On Gunslingers and Monsters
by Materioptikon
Summary: Chapter XVI uploaded. FFVII crossover. Seras wants her Master back. Traveling through the multiverse, she hears of a gunslinger in red and black, wielding a huge gun. Sound familiar? Dashes now removed by popular demand.
1. Into the Great Horizon

Materioptikon here. Together with this new stuff I deliver the new _Madhouse _chapter. I just thought that it was somewhat ridiculous nobody had tried to lampoon the obvious similarities between the two gunslingers here. I own no concept or characters. I do own, however, the idea of the Multiverse Engine and of this crossover. For anybody interested, just like Alucard's _Bird of Hermes_ comes from the Ripley Scroll, Seras' _True _speech comes from the Emerald Tablet. To understand the FFVII part it is extremely unlikely you will need more than watching the movie.

Please, review. Ego-blooming reviews might convince me to upload more and more often. Honestly, d'ya all realize how utterly delightful reviews can be?

* * *

In Battersea Power Station, a veritable army of scientists and technicians struggled to assemble and bring online a massive metallic arch, powered by the whole might of the station's new and heavily improved generators. In itself, the metal thing was reminiscent of Rodin's _Gates of Hell_, with the single details of having multiple devices resembling Tesla coils propping out of the main structure and having doors emblazoned with circuitry. Numerous desks filled with electronic stations and various gadgets surrounded the device, each monitored by its own technician.

A deafening blast roared across the building. Nobody actually expected the thing to work, let alone so quickly.

The first technician to recover made a beeline for the phone. The boss would like to see the device activated.

"Sir? The thing works."

* * *

Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was not an uneducated woman. While she had never actually set foot in an actual school, she had had countless tutors and preceptors across the years and had been successfully taking government-regulation exams for years. She had a very strong inclination towards mathematics, which came in handy while managing the economics of her organization, and held a slight, occasional interest on physics, capably handing topics such as grand unified theories of everything, the works of Max Planck and relativity.

And still, the technology of the Arch was _way_ beyond anything she ever hoped to comprehend.

That insane Doktor had the mind of a Poincaré, a Bohr, and Heaven knows who else. She almost regretted his death.

But on to business, the piece of technology in question, the Multiverse Gate, had been successfully recovered from the flaming debris of the _Deus Ex Machina_, and as soon as its function was clear, Integra had it moved to Hellsing command. The data reels relating to the Gate indicated Avondale Napyeer had pierced the barrier between universes while keeping damage to a minimum, through a form of sifting through the dimensional walls rather than shattering them, a form of travel useful in developing the living quantum anomaly known as Schrodinger, whose data reel had been unfortunately been incinerated in the zeppelin's wreckage, along with that of the Werwolf team's. With the data gleaned from the blood left by Alucard in the shape of the immense Hellsing seal at the site of his vanishing, various points kept marking his presence through the Multiverse.

But the device had a rather intrinsic flaw- it couldn't exactly pinpoint his location. At best, it could relay points in time and space where he had left his trail.

Typical of him not to remain in one point. The git had to be desperate to return.

Much to her disdain, she realized only one agent she commanded held the necessary qualities to find and rein back her servant and lover.

And so, her second prize agent was elected unanimously to venture forward into the unknown for the sake of the most powerful vampire ever.

"Do you think it is a wise decision, Sir Integra? Leaving you like this?"

Her single eye fixed on the vampire. Retreating with an enormous sweatdrop in her forehead, the Draculina hurriedly started talking, with:

"I-I didn't mean to say you're not a fit leader, Sir! I'm just worried about the Convention guys, and you and the Queen..."

Integra raised her fist.

"Seras. I appreciate your concern, but the Queen and I are fairly well. Armies were mobilized. Jaburo lies in ashes. New Convention members, fresh from Eton and Oxford, naive, stupid and new to the power games of the Convention, are no match for a Hellsing of old. And with Sir Irons and the Queen at my side, all new ten members could rise against me and be crushed before they could lift a finger. London is secured, and its survivors have been taken care of in hospitals as far as Surrey and Scotland."

Staring out of a window, Integra caressed the silver handle of her walking stick. She had long mastered the habits necessary to function at peak efficiency with one eye, but she kept the thing for the simple reason it offered a perfectly good blunt weapon should she need it. Not to mention the old-school air of command it transmitted.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Don't you?"

"Huh! Well, of course, Sir! I'm just saying I think that if we just leave him, eventually he's going to return!"

"Eventually, Police Girl, is a word we Hellsings don't like. While the war drums have fallen silent, to believe the undead are no more is as naive as is to believe Alucard is dead. While their numbers have now dwindled, they still wait and hope in the shadows for a day when all humanity can be served at their tables. No offense to your already impressive battle capabilities and experience, but you are but a newborn in the eyes of the vampires of old, and while they are intimidated by the fact you are your Master's blood childe, their respect can only be earned the way your Master treated every other vampire he came across. His experience is still invaluable and the Gate has been tested countless times to ascertain its usefulness with excellent results every time. You have nothing to fear."

"Sir! We've identified the world where the signal's currently beaming from! Earth-class planet, human culture!"

"Excellent. And fear not, Police Girl. It will be only two weeks and all Hellsing tricks and subterfuges have been used to convince any prying eyes that you are on a mission to clean up the remains of the Tube for exclusive Hellsing usage."

"All right. Just...be careful, okay?"

Integra smiled.

"When am I not, Police Girl?"

* * *

Seras was directed to a room where she changed clothes from her usual Hellsing officer attire into a lighter combination of a black tank top, dark pants, combat boots and a glaringly red leather overcoat.

"Well, at least if I run into Master he's going to hurry to beat me up for stealing his color scheme."

Rummaging through the pockets, she found the coat had an incorporated gun holster-one filled with a personalized Jackal model and plenty of ammunition. The side inscription, rather than a copy of Alucard's, read _True, without Error, Certain and Most True. _Seras smiled upon heaving the heavy gun in her hand, testing its weight and quickness. Sliding it back into the holster, she walked out of the room and into the Engineering area. In the way there she was handed a small refrigerated satchel containing enough concentrated plasma to feed her for the length of the journey and one of the engineers gave her a "compass" of sorts designed to lead her to the signal her Master let behind. Another technician slipped her a packet of gold coins to trade for local currency.

Before her the Multiverse Gate opened as a light shaft covering the circuitry in the door proper. The third eye revealed a possible path before her, one leading to her Master.

Integra, from not too far away, smiled and waved.

Seras smiled back. Undaunted, she ran and jumped into the light.

* * *

In the grassy plains near the Chocobo Farm, a rectangle of light opened up and a figure in red leapt out.

Seras rose and saw the night sky.

Gaia welcomed the dimensional tourist with a spectacular view of her night sky.

The next welcome was a Tonberry poking her with his knife.

* * *

Seras managed to drag herself to the nearest building. The Tonberry she had eaten had barely been able to reconstruct the impressive amount of damage such a tiny thing could do. She idly wondered whether her master would have liked picking a fight with the tiny creatures. As she progressed, some of the local fauna, and even some of the flora, confronted her, but she effortlessly shrugged off their attacks, only killing them when no other option was available to her.

She did, however, scare away an impressive amount of Chocobos from her location.

"Oh? Adventurers? Gramps! A girl adventurer came!"

"Eh?"

"Oi, 'allo, miss! 'Scuse the young 'uns! Not many gents pass through 'ere nowadays!"

"Oh. Just... I'm not an adventurer. I'm just...a police girl."

The two children nearby groaned and retreated into the cabin of sorts.

"Ah. Say, what brings you over to our Farm?"

"Oh. See..."

She racked her brain for a good lie.

"I...got lost. Can you point me out to the nearest town?"

"Oh. A bus comes 'round today. Could leave you in Kalm. Won't take long, too."

"Hmm. And from there, to any major city?"

"To Edge, ya mean? Multiple buses daily. Both cities are like hand n' glove."

Close to a major city. Good.

The sound of a roaring engine approaching distracted her.

"An' here it comes! G'day to you, miss!"

Walking towards the bus, she noticed one of the huge birds in the corral beside her was insistently scratching and preening its neck.

"Hey there. You got something stuck?"

The bird approached the fence, allowing Seras to scratch it.

"Hey, what's this?"

In a small clump in the Chocobo's neck, a small red piece of something had been bothering the bird. It immedately had shaken off, stared at Seras and promptly proceeded to continue on its way with the others in the corral.

"There you go. No more red thingy!"

Thinking nothing of the small piece of red material, she slipped it into her pocket and walked to the bus.

Fortunately, she could cloak her presence from the bus driver and effortlessly hide in one of the unoccupied seats.

Unfortunately, the bus broke down halfway to Kalm.

Of course, still being the wee hours of the morning, she had little problem with escaping and running towards the horizon. She noticed, slightly annoyed, that there would be little cover for the oncoming sunlight. It took her quite a bit of effort to find a small glen, secluded enough from the main road to ensure she would not be bothered, where wild animals were few and far in between and where she would have enough coverage from the rising sun to sleep until it was lower in the sky, allowing her more freedom of movements. By then, daybreak was imminent and there was little point in going onwards.

Curling in the shade of the glen, she prepared for the cool embrace of death. Or as close as a vampire could reach while sleeping.

Four people in dark blue suits descended from a chopper, not four hours since Seras had stopped for her sleep.

They had a mission, and it involved dangers and risks.

Not many of those in the days running rampant, but you get the point.

"Yo. Boss, you sure this is the place?"

Tseng sighed.

"Yes, Reno. Now come on, we need to collect those samples before the scientists at Edge start making a fuss about lateness."

Saluting in an over-the-top gesture, the two-man team of Reno and Rude of the Turks went into the glen armed with small buckets and shovels to load up topsoil samples.

"Dude, we were trained to defend Shinra from anything. We helped, in our own inimitable way, to defeat Seph in two different occassions. An' they have nothing better for us to do than do some fancy scientific _gardening? _Seriously, yo? I'm gonna complain to Rufus."

"..."

"Like _you_ enjoy it, partner. Don't tell me you don't miss the old days where the Turks saw real action!"

"...what to do about it?"

"...good question."

* * *

Elsewhere, a blonde in the same suit type hovered around, fleeting from one spot to another, wondering whether the spots she selected were ideal to the task at hand.

"This one? No, that one!"

Then she gasped. Hurriedly running to the side of the strawberry blonde, she placed two fingers upon her neck. No breathing, no heartbeat. Body was quite cold to the touch. The honey-blonde took out her communicator, pressed the button and spoke:

"Leader? We have a situation here."

"Explain, Elena."

"We got a corpse here."

"Uhhh...?"

Elena did the only sane, rational thing she could do. She screamed her lungs out.

* * *

"Really, I'm very sorry for mistaking you for dead, miss Victoria."

"No problem. I'm just very cold."

"Lucky you I found you! My partners are around, gathering topsoil samples, and I thought I could probably help you around!"

Seras really didn't want to read Elena's memories, but she seemed positively _insistent_ on broadcasting her every thought.

"Hey... you're security forces, aren't you?"

"Yep! The Turks, that's us! We're elite, the best of the best!"

"And so, you know a lot about local guys, don't you?"

"Yeah, sure! We Turks kinda have to, to get around these days!"

"All right. See, I'm searching for a gunslinger. Likes to wear red."

"That sounds like Valentine."

Seras sighed in frustration. She had to be a lot more specific if she wanted to find her master.

"No, no. This one has black hair and red eyes."

"Valentine."

Sigh.

"No. The gunslinger I'm looking for carries immense weapons only he can fire, because of their immense weight."

"Valentine."

Seras stopped for a moment.

"Doubtful past, questionable sanity?"

"Yep."

"Insanely powerful in combat, frankly supernatural abilities?"

"Yeah."

"Hands always covered with gloves of some sort?"

"Uh-huh."

"Powers that border on the demonic?"

"His transformations, you mean?"

Seras had heard enough. She pulled a mental image of this Valentine man from Elena's mind. While she did not immediately recognize the man with his sickly pale skin tone, she imagined her master's demented grin and serrated teeth superimposed upon the image, minus the high collar, and immediately got her answer.

"Where do I find this Valentine man?"

Just after she finished her request, the sounds of combat reached the chopper.

* * *

Reno cursed with every expletive he had ever learnt. Considering he had grown in the Midgarian slums, it was a rather impressive list, but it would have garnered much more attention had he and his team not been attacked by a triad of Shadow Creepers that moment. One had unexpectedly appeared from the spot he had chosen to gather his mound of topsoil and from there it had snowballed into a full-blown confrontation with the things. Tseng, Rude and he were holding their own, but the things were nothing if not persistent and there was a serious likelihood the fight would not fully end in their favor.

Unexpectedly, three shots from a weapon he couldn't identify rang.

All three Shadow Creepers fell, and he stared into the barrel of the Jackal Seras wielded.

"Yo. Nice gun."


	2. Taint of the Planet

And we go onward with the senseless likenings, ladies and gents! Oh, and FellowSufferer, sorry I missed the chance to reply to your review. I wanted to, but ended up deleting the link by accident. All I can say is, Seras will indeed find enough action soon enough. Incidentally, I want to thank Tsuki no Reuken. Ended up giving me more ideas. Which, eventually made me forego the idea of a twoshot and instead go for something longer. After all, the lady has fifteen full days to find Alucard. Besides, a lot of space was spent in Chapter One for introductions. Remember, boys and girls! Reviews are essential in a Materioptikon's healthy day! If fed enough of them, he might consider extending this thing and _Madhouse _a bit more! Ask questions! Rant about the silliness! Laugh and let the world laugh with thee!

Flames still will go die from a flu in the corner though.

Own nothing. Honestly, I hardly see the point in stressing this over and over, but it is a rule these days.

* * *

Reno gaped at the blonde who had just saved his, Rude's and Tseng's hides.

Spiky blond hair. Ludicrously oversized weapon. A nice scowl to go with her features. Blue eyes.

"Uh. Thanks for the save, yo. You...ehh...related to Strife?"

"Uhhh..."

Seras, on the other hand, had to deal with the fact she had no idea who Strife was, and as a result, wound up looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Not to mention Pip's insistent curiosity, in the back of her head, in staring at the man who, with half a decade more on his shoulders, minus an eye, plus a snazzy military ensemble and a colored contact lens would make a dead ringer for him. However, a lucky save ended up saving her from blurting any things she shouldn't have said when the nice man with the bindi extended a hand to shake hers.

"On behalf of the Shinra Electric Power Company, I thank you for the assistance, miss."

"No problem. Name's Seras Victoria."

"Tseng Zha. These are my men, Reno Partheen and Rude Hart. I see you've met Elena. Now, if you don't mind me asking...what's that gun's model?"

Seras couldn't avoid smirking.

"Customized model with enlarged chamber. Combining 0.50 caliber bullet with half the acceleration of a sniper rifle at extra power."

"Heavy stuff. How much Materia you use for performance enhancement?"

Seras stopped for a second before she could draw upon Elena's memories of Materia. Apparently, the stuff was a form of crystal that granted powers upon the wielder. That, however, was not what most interested Seras. Instead, it was the fact it apparently was made of a concentrated form of life stemming from the planet itself, or rather, it was its congealed blood.

Blood.

And she had a small piece of it in one of her pockets.

"Lots of it."

"Mind if I ask who your armorer is? I think I would rather enjoy wielding weapons of that caliber."

Seras' eyes closed. One last moment of respect for Walter. Whether he was a traitor or a brainwashed slave, she still remembered him in high regard.

"Dead. Killed in a fire."

Tseng clicked his tongue.

"Pity. Well, again, I reiterate my company's gratitude. Anything me or my partners could do to...er, repay the favor?"

"Mind giving me a lift to Edge? Oh, and once there, know of any place where I could sell off some gold I've held into?"

During this, nobody noticed how the blood of the Creepers was slowly sliding to Seras' boots. Before she had reached the chopper, all of the blood was gone.

* * *

In the chopper, flying to her destination, Seras wasted no time asking Elena about the enigma known as Vincent Valentine. Elena's mind, much like her speech, was rather jumbled, but could be navigated rather easily by focusing in the goal. She learnt he had joined a group that had somehow saved the world by destroying some sort of alien menace. Mister Valentine apparently kept a good relationship with the group, as far as he could develop actual relationships. This, considering Elena had known him to be a curmudgeon of sorts, rarely showing up unless something was definitely wrong, roaming the world in a sort of journey for something nobody had actually managed to define.

Seras shifted in her seat. Travling in the chopper in broad daylight was getting on her nerves. If her master had willingly teamed up with others, either these were prodigious fighters worthy of his respect (and thence of hers) or his physical depletion was such he hadn't managed to defeat the menace by himself. Either way, she had to be wary in her dealings.

And Elena told her about his friends in Edge.

* * *

As Seras walked away from the Shinra stores/aerodrome in Northern Edge, armed with a map to the closest jeweler's to buy gold at reasonable prices, all of the Turks kept looking at her through a window in the lobby. Tseng rubbed his forehead.

"Anyone can imagine a good reason a civilian should be walking around with high-caliber weaponry?"

Nobody actually answered.

"What do we know about miss Victoria?"

"...non-existent in database."

"Well...she told me she was looking for Mr. Valentine. Kept describing him, like she wasn't sure the person I described was the person she needed, but I think I convinced her in the end."

"Oh. Did she tell why?"

"I asked her. She told me he was part of a team she belonged to and that their leader was searching for Mr. Valentine to complete the team again."

"Hm. Good. Reno, I want you to follow Miss Victoria, discreetly, and find out anything you can about her group, her abilities and enhancements, her true identity, or relation to Valentine. Rude, keep digging on the database. See if you find who really she is. Find any mention to any group Valentine may have ever formed a part of besides Strife's. Elena, report today's activities and findings to the President and run a ballistics test. I want to know the approximate power of a Materia enhancement system needed for someone of her complexion to wield adequately a gun that size and caliber. I'll be dropping off the samples and preparing to have a long chat with Strife."

"Yeah! Following a nice girl. My kind of mission."

"...okay."

"On my way, boss."

* * *

Seras walked out of the jewelry store, having converted a small amount of her coins into local hard cash. She walked around, looking for a dark place where she could rest her ached feet and rest from the irritating solar light. Much like her master, the light and heat were but minor irritants, preventing her from reaching the higher levels of her power, but nonetheless she had slept less than her usual fare thanks to Elena and the trip in the chopper had been hard for her. She then spotted a crevice jutting out of the third story of a building that appeared to have decidedly less activity than its neighbors, and with the added bonus of a better view, while having few spots where she could be observed. The street was mostly deserted, and with the third eye confirming she was alone, she decided to take the quick route. Gaining speed, she ran across the street and ran up the dark side of the building to reach the place. The nausea of flying still refused to leave her, and it really would help if she could stop and rest.

She then started making herself comfortable. She settled the slung box of plasma packets on the floor, shrugged off the overcoat and took out one of the plasma bags. Sitting down, she proceeded to methodically drain its contents, but being careful to savor them for all they were worth. Finishing, she decided to take out the red stone she had found on the chocobo. Placing it upon her shadow arm, she watched as the crystal dissolved in the dark matter, as it was consumed and added to her system.

She felt the energies contained within the sphere add to her power. Lazily, she draped the overcoat over her body and prepared to sleep.

* * *

Reno had no idea of where to start.

He had thought of starting with the multiple cameras all over Edge, following the girl's trail until he had a definite lock-on and was cleared to go ahead. Problem was, cameras just followed her up to a certain point in Edge's downtown, where she momentarily got out of camera range. When the next camera entered the range where she should have been, she was no longer there. For all intents and purposes, she had completely faded away from the surveillance.

He focused the video as to see where it had been taken. In the focused image, he realized he could easily identify Edge's Entertainment Sector, a part of the city that was mostly abandoned at the early hours. Just then, the droves of schoolchildren were barely being released from their teachers' grasp, and the end or workable hours was still far away in his scope. No surprise she had decided to lay low there while the sun still shone over Edge. He wrote down the street number and camera position.

Reno smiled and shrugged. He wanted excitement, excitement had come to him.

* * *

Seras opened her eyes, wondering where the fat Harkonnen spirit could have gone. Instead, she realized she was being shaken, alarmingly hard.

She was on the Red Land, her Soul Chamber.

"So at last you decide to join us, _mignonette!"_

"Eh? Wha' wrong?"

_"Ce n'est pas possible! _Her energy source is attacking itself and the lady asks vat's wrong!"

"What d'you mean?"

"Zat!"

Seras then started focusing a bit more clearly, and realized that she and Pip were standing on a plateau high above the plains of the Red Land. Below, the three Shadow Creepers she had absorbed earlier fought against scattering Millennium soldiers, Iscariot knights and Riconquista warriors. While the mass of antlike souls kept amassing in an effort to overwhelm the Creepers with sheer numbers, the raw battle power and intelligent planning of the things, which seemed to protect each other with a ferocity she had never seen in wild beasts. Even hard, resilient souls like the Captain's were having a hard time against the creatures. The beasts were smart and powerful enough to avoid the Red Land's inhabitants' efforts to incorporate them into their numbers, and were so far relatively successful in avoiding the hails of gunfire of the Riconquista cannons and Zorin's scythe. The low-level Waffen vampires were harming them to a degree, but they simply wouldn't give up.

"Those guys just don't know when to give up, huh?"

Hoisting Pip, Seras threw herself off the cliff. With the screaming soldier at her side, she fell in freefall for a couple of seconds (more than enough for Pip to seriously wonder whether offering his soul in the name of love had been his smartest move after all) before she fell on her feet. She landed as the Creepers were successful in scattering another attacking force, allowing them to run away, seeking an "exit" that never would exist.

"Find some competent guys and cover me!"

"No! These things...they regenerate!"

But Seras was too far away.

The three Creepers watched her charge, and responded in kind. They were lost, wanted out. They wanted to go back and do their master's bidding. Without his voice, they were nothing.

They responded with a charge of their own. Both ran at full speed to engage their enemies, crushing anything that stood in their way. Moments before Seras was hit by the counterattack, she leapt high above the Creepers and opened fire in midair against the three of them. Every single one received two critical Jackal shots, falling.

One, even in the throes of its agony, managed to swipe its claw against Seras, cutting off her shadow arm. Pip, in response, fired a barrage of bullets at the claw, damaging that Creeper a bit more and prompting the three to writhe and squirm, now more clearly desperate than ever to escape their eternal imprisonment. Seras, hissing in pain, started regenerating, but it clearly was straining her. Of course, that did not stop the fact the Creepers' bodies started regrowing at an alarming pace.

"What?"

"Ve've sliced 'em, blasted 'em, burned 'em... Zey just von't die! Zey are like us, but zey don't want to obey!"

Seras stopped. The things were clearly damaging her, as demonstrated by the pain they caused her and the difficulty imposed upon her regenerative abilities, and her "immunological system" of sorts was digesting the unruly souls to be added permanently as slaves to her menagerie, but she was at a loss as to how long the process would take. The beings were some sort of unholy monster, explaining the difficulty of her body to assimilate the foreign power.

She frowned. And stared at the stone pillars dotting the area, a tight gorge nearby, and the lost souls surrounding her.

"Ideas?"

"One. I'll need backup."

* * *

Rude was having even less luck than Reno. Valentine had apparently never belonged into any notorious organization or clique outside his job and Cloud's group. He decided to try his luck uploading a simulated image of Seras into the Shinra database.

The program started running. Realizing it would take time, Rude decided to get a cup of coffee. The darkness of the night was blanketing the city. Just as soon as he exited the room, Reno appeared, with his usual carefree smirk and a sheet of paper.

"Yo, partner. Need a little help, here."

"...no leads?"

"Better. She vanished half into the city. Just made some calls, she was seen entering Entertainment Sector after dropping some of her gold at the jeweler's and wasn't seen going out. I'm just in my way out, to conduct a ground search. You wanna come?"

"...Leader's not gonna be pleased either way. Fine."

* * *

Seras' plan was simple. Crushing the three beasts with the stone pillars nearby to immobilize them and using Zorin's abilities to break their wills to fight. (1) She was given two Panzerfausts to draw their attention, while a squadron of Riconquista cannons was deployed to prepare to open fire at the pillars at the correct moment. The monsters, at the moment, were still dealing with the SS soldier souls of the Land, and would be for a few minutes. Now, if she just could convince the remaining angry souls to execute her plan...

"And what ensures these things won't come back and attack us for pissing them off?"

Seras simply sighed in the direction of the rebellious Iscariot assassin.

"Put it in perspective. It works, they no longer can think outside of what I want them to. It fails, we keep trying. We do nothing, it keeps swiping you off and making existence here more miserable for the lot of you. Your choice."

"It's already Hell in here. What's the diff?"

Seras shrugged, and quoting Milton, replied:

_""The mind can make a Heaven out of a Hell, or a Hell out of a Heaven"_. Again, your choice. I want to be different from my master, not actually forcing you to help me. With me you get to keep your mind and soul. I give you the choice. But, I tell you, in the long run, it will make no difference at all. Not a threat. A promise."

A collective murmur later, all souls of the Land had accepted her plan.

Seras moved to her position, took aim, and fired the first Panzerfaust. The rocket careened dangerously close to the monsters, but the beings were smart enough to avoid the main blast, mainly receiving minor damage from the shrapnel from the explosion. Confused and angry, the nightmarish things formed a closed circle formation to find the shooter, and barely managed to avoid the second Panzerfaust with time enough to clear the shockwave of the projectile.

Seras, from high atop one of the pillars, merely blew a raspberry at them and leapt off.

As expected, the beasts recognized the insult and initiated their assault against Seras. She merely stood her ground, waiting for the trap to be sprung. When the beasts were in range, the forty extra-long cannons fired their charges to the stone pillars, supported by Millennium explosives. The three pillars in range fell as expected, crushing all of them. All three screeched in pain, and feveredly wiggled and hissed threateningly, screaming to be let free. Zorin approached, smirking. She was not allowed to use her illusions on sentient souls, but here she had three ferocious, and more importantly, _mindless_ monsters that just were begging for a good mindwiping session.

"You want freedom? Fine. My master will make you free. At the low cost of your soul. Not that you have an actual choice."

She placed her hand in the first of the Creepers' forehead, and let the purple magic wreak its powers in the ogre. Instantly, its body fell in utter lassitude, and the ruins holding it in place dissolved. Rapidly, its mind was evaporating to be replaced by the will of the Land. Zorin's smirk grew as her hand reached the second Creeper and repeated the process. The third daemon, however, was flailing and howling with even more despair than before. It recognized it now was alone, with no support or help, and in its fevered wish to return to where it could hear the voice of its master, it managed to escape, shaking off the debris of the pillar crushing it. Zorin tried to use her scythe before it fled, but again, the fiend preferred to swat her away. While in pursuit, Pip asked Seras:

"Ze witch find anything useful in the brain of those things?"

"They call themselves Creepers. They serve a will of sorts, disembodied, but...I think it's like a mirror, trying to reassemble itself by collecting all its pieces and using pieces from other mirrors to make itself whole. They want to serve... this will, it's like a vampirism of sorts, but it's like instead of drawing all souls into one's body, it puts your own will into every single victim's body, twisting every soul into another copy of the prime soul. Like the master vampire can create ghouls and fledgings."

Unknown to either, the remaining Creeper had managed to steer clear of the Captain and Yumie. It had even managed to reach the cliffs overlooking the gorge where its brothers had fallen. The Creeper could only feel-feel the rage for their imprisonment and impotency, the helplessness in theis strange realm, the madness in the air.

If it could not go back and serve its master, it would crush his enemies.

Just as it prepared to leap and crash on the pair, though, a patter was heard.

A patter, as if something was running at full speed to crash against the Creeper.

Seconds later, in a comically huge blast, the Creeper fell from its vantage point as a furious Chocobo started pecking at it.

* * *

Elena was uncomfortably standing before Rufus Shinra, the President of the Shinra Electric Power behemoth remnants, her boss and charge for the night.

"And thus, to close your report, do you believe it is feasible this young woman can represent a danger for the stability of Edge?"

"Not at the moment, sir. But Leader does believe she at least has the potential to become such a danger. So, until we ascertain what her intentions are and what does Valentine have to do with her, we are going to investigate her and make sure she behaves."

"Good, Elena. If anything of interest happens, I want to be informed in the act."

* * *

Back into the Red Land, the Standing Army of the Land in its entirety kept staring at the rather odd spectacle of a Creeper being beaten into submission by a Chocobo.

"What. Was. Zat?"

Seras stared at the huge bird before her.

"I think...I just ate that poor bird. The sphere I consumed... it was within it."

"Zat thing's gone?"

"Broken, at least, I think. Without the others, it's nothing. All together, they helped each other deal with being here. Their very presence helped... but now it's alone and humiliated, it's a lot more vulnerable to the powers of this place."

She flexed her arm.

"And their influence's gone."

Pip leaned to hug her. She didn't resist the embrace, rather making herself comfortable as the Land finished healing itself.

She then started looking at the landscape more closely. Several grottoes leading underground were in fact Tube stations. Things she assumed were cliffs and crags were in fact hidden buildings; some looked like apartments and one resembled the London orphanage she had grown in. The plateau she had leaped from actually resembled a massively oversized Hellsing Manor carved from the rock itself.

"What is all of this?"

"Zat? Ze buildings? Zey just appeared one day. We've all been zere. Some even live in zere."

Seras stopped.

"These places... well, makes sense. If this place is a reflection of my soul... then there's bound to be some parts of me lying around. All the places I've lived and gone to..."

She sighed.

"Oh, well. Hafta return. Sun's has to have gone down by now."

"Goodbye kiss, Draculina?"

Both kissed. It was another reminder of how different she was from Alucard in her methods; he'd strive to break and grind down every soul to fall in his grasp until they were nothing but mindless puppets, Seras preferred to make them work for her with their whole soul intact. Well, that and Alucard would never allow himself to be kissed by one of the souls he had enslaved. With a parting smile to Pip, the Land faded from Seras' vision and she opened her eyes in the physical world.

Groggily, she managed to stare at the outside sky. The torrent of reds and purples outside told her nighttime was about to commence. Her powers were already rising.

The third eye insistently warned her of somebody coming. She rose, donned the overcoat, and prepared an apologizing stance, showing her hands.

Instead of the owner, or somebody else, the door opened to reveal Reno and Rude.

"Oh. Hi. Whatcha doing here?"

Reno smirked.

"Well. If it ain't lil' miss Seras. We were jus' about to ask the same thing."

Seras, without dropping the smile, shifted to a smirk.

"You're looking for me. You want to know something. Tell you what. Have you ever been fought with only one finger?"

"Eh?"

"Let's make a deal. Let's spar for a sec. You can use that niiice electrorod you carry. I can only use my pinky. You win, I tell you everything..."

Reno smiled even wider. The lady thought she was dangerous? Fine then. Two could play that game. After all, what could she do, knock him out by using only her pinky?

Within her, Pip groaned. Another one bit the dust.

* * *

Cloud Strife had had a good day. For once, it seemed as if things were finally acquiring a sense of peace. A chance to let the wounds of the war heal.

So, having fulfilled his deliveries for the day, he was at the moment engaged in giving his immense motorcycle a much-needed tune-up.

A knock in the back door stopped him from delving too much into such.

He opened the door, only to find himself face to face with Tseng.

"Evening. Mind if I come in?"

"Hm. I might, Tseng. To what do I owe this visit?"

"Straight to business, then. No pleasantries. Today, my team and I were collecting topsoil samples when we were attacked by Creepers. A passing lady, Seras Victoria, kindly killed the things for us, in exchange for a lift to Edge and directions to a place where she could change some gold she had. Thing is...she worries me. She apparently knows Valentine very well and she claims he worked for an outside organization with her, and that her current mission is to get him back to this other group so he can return to his previous duties. Not to mention she has the ability to wield weapons huge enough to rank with Valentine's as hand cannons."

"You think she was serious? I've never heard of anyone with that name, or even the capability to use anything even remotely resembling Vincent's guns".

"I think she was. However, several things rang wrong with her. She had never heard of the Turks until she started talking with Elena, and minutes later she was having conversations that indicated a better than average understanding of us. Rude just phoned me in-she's apparently strong and agile in a comparable scale to yours. Rude and he were sweeping the city in an effort to find her, see if they could find any proof of her intentions and she discovered them. Reno's apparently out cold."

Cloud sighed.

"And I fit in all of this, how?"

"Two things. One, you're a close associate of Vincent's-she's sure to come by. Elena seems to have mentioned you and this household by name. Second, you're one of the few people he would trust. I'm not asking you to tell him to do anything, but honestly it really would help if he just tell us all exactly what this lady wants."

"I'll think about it. If she comes, I'll ask her myself. For the moment, I'm afraid my time's up."

"As is mine, Cloud. Good night."

* * *

(1) In my little universe, the blood Zorin splattered on Seras was enough to give her command of her soul and powers.


	3. First Clues

Attention, please. Materioptikon here. First of all, I want to dedicate this chapter to FellowSufferer, who I additionally want to thank for the kind review and expenditure of time. Another notice: if you've been following the story from last chapter, it would be darned convenient if you backtracked to Chapter Two, which has been heavily retooled from certain suggestions from FellowSufferer.

If you want to kick me down a few notches, fear not! Leave a review and let me hear from ye! If you like Resident Evil, you're in luck today-_Musings of the Fourth Survivor_'s out today as well. Also, I want to know whether any gents out there would like this to go beyond the FFVII world and into other places in the multiverse. No suggestions yet, please...just yes or no. When I make up my mind, then I'll hear you all out. In the meantime, just drop your opinion in a review.

* * *

Seras was running across rooftops.

Honestly, she should have known better. To fight Reno was to doom him to an unnecesary beating. And humiliate him on the side by knocking him out with her pinky.

On the other hand, they were not going to let her flee as easily now she had knocked one of them unconscious. Probably, they would try to pursue with more caution.

The night was still young, and Elena had told her where to find friends of Valentine's. Hopefully, they could be convinced to share what they knew.

She did, however, remain wary. She did not want another unnecessary fight, much less one with people her master liked.

* * *

Rude managed to drag Reno back to the car. Propping him upright in the passenger seat, he had phoned Tseng in and reported their failure. To Rude's credit, he had not specified the means of which Seras had beaten Reno. Halfway in his route to the new Shinra HQ, he received another call:

"Rude?"

"Leader?"

"New mission's been issued by the President. We four are to discreetly cover up the 7th Heaven and protect Strife if the need arises, given Miss Victoria has proved herself capable of dealing with us and that her intentions and affiliation remain unknown. Reno okay yet?"

Rude looked at his unconscious partner. He had been beaten to unconsciousness by a being appearing to be a young woman in her early twenties, at least six inches smaller than him, and at least ten pounds lighter. To add insult upon injury, this had been done with a single finger. There was no way Seras Victoria could be normal. Either she was using an extraordinary Materia enhancement system, or she was not everything she appeared to be. Either of those things warranted the attention of his team and possibly a very long stay in a Shinra-approved facility. Rude groaned.

"He'll be fine. With support, we should be able to at least stop her. But-I mean support. _Heavy_ support. Got anything in mind?"

* * *

Seras had found a quiet, dark spot with ease. Simply by heading away from the glaringly bright lights of the Entertainment Sector in the rough direction Elena had pictured in her mind. She did not have to wait long until she found herself where she wanted to be. The trail grew hotter. She decided not to approach through the front door, eschewing that option for the back one. She wanted privacy; if any of the Turks showed up, it would be easier to fade from the view of one person than to do so from the view of all the patrons of the bar.

She knocked twice. And waited for fifteen seconds before someone opened the door.

It was the cutest little girl Seras had seen in a long, long time.

* * *

Cloud had been focused on the tune-up he barely noticed at first the rapping at the door. He looked at his work and decided it would hold for enough time to attend whoever it was knocking. Opening, he frowned for a moment.

"Marlene? What's up?"

The little girl he had come to regard as family made a face herself.

"I thought you had told us you had no more family!"

That did, indeed, confuse Cloud to levels he had never experienced before.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Your sister's here!"

"Hey! I told you I don't even know the guy!"

"Uh-huh. You don't say."

Seras facepalmed. Did she really resemble...

She and Cloud stood face to face, staring at each other with huge sweatdrops.

"Ow. I _do _see the resemblance. No relation, though."

"Aww..."

"Marlene, go with Tifa, please..."

The girl sulked out. Seras extended her hand with a warm smile.

"My name is Seras Victoria."

Cloud visibly stiffened. The Seras Victoria he imagined was far, far older, not the blue-eyed petite blonde before him. He studied her for a second before extending his hand himself. She looked a rather thin girl, perhaps with a little muscle, but certainly not enough to be in the strength scale Tseng described. Plus, her wrists looked barely thin enough to handle small weapons, and with considerable effort at risk at that. Her happy, somewhat shy and embarrased attitude was also at odds with the reported fact she had beaten Reno. She seemed way too nice to be involved in fights, and hardly looked like she would start one, let alone with Reno, who was at least seven inches taller and somewhat heavier.

Seras had much to wonder herself. From one of the walls hung a massive sword made of smaller, interlocking blades, with signs of obvious continued usage. If Strife was capable of wielding such a weapon, there was a good chance he would indeed meet the approval seal of her master. The third eye also saw something unusual in him, a brightness of sorts that gave him his strength. The calloused hands and the scars in his arms indeed revealed hard work and a life filled with danger, and overall she realized Strife could have indeed deemed interesting by her Master. If this was the hero that had saved the planet, then his interest would be doubly increased. At least he'd take some delight in occassionally teasing or testing him as only he could.

"Uh. For how long have we been shaking hands?"

Seras smiled awkwardly and replied with her brightest smile:

"About...ten seconds."

Both released each other's hands, and kept smiling the same smiles.

"Perhaps we should sit down?"

"Oh, yes! By all means!"

Both sat in strewn chairs. The smiles became less forced. Cloud steeled himself, and started:

"Well...I've heard about you."

"The Turks, I suppose?"

Cloud shifted his stance when he heard that.

_"Very well informed. Have to recognize she can be smart."_

"No, nothing like that. I'm just new in town, they're the only people I've met around."

"Oh. Well. You see, they did tell me, though, you wanted info on Vincent Valentine."

"Correct."

"Uh. Well, see, Vince is a man who likes his privacy, and I think it would be a lot better if I could just call him first and ask..."

His voice then acquired a slightly less pleasant tone.

"But first, if I might, I'd like to ask some questions. Vince is a friend and I'd feel bad about sending a complete stranger to him without any form of ID. D'ya mind?"

Seras stared at him appraisingly. So he was not all brawn and no brains. She leaned forward and faced Cloud's stony expression with a natural, easy smile.

"You ever heard-_"seeing is believing"_?"

She gently touched the wall and allowed a stream of letters, numbers, kanji, shapes and emblems to sift through it.

* * *

Tseng led his team through one of the nearly-forgotten Shinra weapon storehouses.

"Leader, you sure this can stop someone of her caliber?"

"It should. At least, so the scientists who studied it think."

"When was this confiscated? All of this looks ages old!"

"...before Meteor."

"Indeed. Some of the Weapon Development Department's last produced toys."

"Whoa! Hey, boss! Over there! Is that..."

"Yes. Yes, it is. But we're not using it. It took those eggheads months to reconstruct it and we're not going to compromise such valuable stuff without explicit clearance. Now, pick something from those crates from over there and we're good to move. And before you ask, Reno, you're not allowed to turn it on to see if it works."

* * *

The multiple black shapes had congealed as a huge, expansive window in the wall.

"But...what the?"

"Shhh. Watch and hear."

The blackness parted like a curtain. Instead, the burning streets of London were shown. At one side, Millennium's elite -the Major in the middle, the Captain and the Doctor flanking him, Zorin, Schrodinger, Jan Valentine and Alhambra at the sidelines- and at the other, Hellsing's powerhouses: Alucard in his black leather jumpsuit, swathed in his red cape and protectively draping his blackwood coffin, and Sir Hellsing in the middle, with Walter at one side and Seras and Pip in the other.

"It began with a war. A war started with no goals, only mediums. A man, insane from boredom and purposelessness, decided he wanted to see the world burn, every single one of his soldiers fighting to the death, each ammuntion crate spent to the last bullet, every rocket launched and every knife used. Or so we thought. He wanted everyone to share his mad dream of entertainment. With his powerful voice and his indomitable will, he created an army with the spoils of a cruel war, and rebuilt everybody, from the lowest grunt, to the highest commander, in the image of nightmares. Once upon a time, when the stars were right, so began the Millennium War."

Jan, derangedly smiling, walked up to meet Seras, as Alhambra moved towards Alucard, shuffling his deck.

"They knew what enemy they were fighting against-the supreme black knight, the prime dark warrior-and they cared not."

The illusion Seras raised the Harkonnen and started shooting at both Millennium officers. The fight started in earnest - Alhambra summoning his cards and evading Alucard's bullets as Jan pursued Seras with his unpredictable, dangerous smile.

"The truth was, the war was just the cover for their true mission."

Jan and Alhambra suddenly erupted in blue fire, their expressions those of surprise and horror. Behind them, his remote in hand, the Doctor smiled cruelly.

"I was just a normal person who suddenly was thrust into a role I never imagined, by that man. The man in red and black, the living dead. My master, father and sire."

Zorin and the Captain charged together against Seras, while Alucard calmly walked up to the Major and Schrodinger. Walter flicked his wires to stall the Captain, but Seras still had to struggle with Zorin. Pip threw himself in, and all of them faded into darkness, leaving Integra alone.

"We all cared only about stopping them, prevent their poison from spreading."

Seras became visible again, now truly empowered, with a sad look to Pip's body. As Alucard walked towards the Major, he was attacked by the rejuvenated Walter, and the Captain leapt from his perch to engage Seras.

"We all made sacrifices. We all lost something we held dear."

Seras thrust a shadow-matter arm through the Captain, Alucard destroyed Walter. And the three of them, Integra, Seras, and Alucard, walked up to reach the Major and Schrodinger.

"And then the final trap was sprung and their souls were revealed."

Alucard moved in for the kill, and Schrodinger threw himself in the path. With a shot, it appeared to be all over. However, the blood stuck to the black and red of Alucard.

"Their final trick, and their true intent, was not to kill my master. That is impossible. Instead, they exiled him away from everything he loved and cared about."

Alucard's expression fell upon the revelation of the trap. He extended his hand to Integra's face, before the pain of dematerialisation took hold, and he faded from reality.

"He left us alone. My master's master took it quite hard."

Illusion-Integra punched off the Major's head, revealing it to be full of cogs and gears.

"And now, we are searching for him. We want him back."

The entire window faded in blackness, and it dissolved back into emblems, shapes and letters that slithered their way back to Seras.

"I want my father. My master's master wishes her lover back. Can you blame us for searching for him?"

* * *

The chopper moved towards Edge, to the Eastern Sector. Reno smiled upon thinking the type of cargo he and his teammates were carrying.

The girl had no chance.

* * *

"You believe Vincent's your father? Adoptive father, at any rate?"

Nod.

Cloud sat and closed his eyes in thought. The existence of hundreds of worlds, out there, beyond the horizon... Biting his lip, he briefly entertained the idea of pleading for use of their machines, of that power, to correct his mistakes. But just as quickly as the thought appeared, it was pushed down. Repulsed by the immaturity of the idea of escaping his current responsibilities by "fixing" his own past, or worse yet, other timelines, for a simple, selfish wish for a perfect, shielded life where he could indeed live as a happy, listless man devoid of his duties as a family man, a reluctant hero and a glorified postal worker, Cloud simply swallowed hard and resumed thinking about Vincent.

He earnestly tried to think about the possibility that Seras was saying the truth. He himself hardly knew anything about the past of Vincent Valentine. The group he had once commanded in their mad quest to defeat Sephiroth had found him in the basement of the Shinra Mansion, imprisoned by self-bondage in the black casket he remembered so well.

"Is he morbid by nature?"

"Morbidity isn't in his nature-he _is_ morbidity itself when he's not laughing at those he finds less than himself. Then again, last time he was defeated, I hear he got a case of the blues for about one or two decades."

Cloud stared. Seras huffed:

"He's immortal, ageless...don't you think someone like that tends to have time to _dwell_ on things?"

"What...what if he had come here, fresh from being tricked, and then got tricked and humiliated all over again?"

Seras opened her mouth, thought about it better, and closed it. Timidly, she replied:

"Is he so massively depressed?"

Cloud sighed.

"Miss, you have no idea..."

* * *

Outside, the Turks arrived to a park several blocks away.

They unpacked and started walking towards the Seventh Heaven. It was a rather odd sight, to see three grown men with determination of those kinds- mad resolve to prove oneself for Reno, cold resolution for revenge in Rude, and undying tenacity in Tseng-carrying a rather wide assortment of varied restrainment/stalling devices. A Shinra Ice Cannon Deluxe, a Midgar Weapons Corp. Paralysis/Stun Gun, and worst of the lot, a Wutai Marlboro Dust Sprinkler.

As one, they knew where the woman they needed was likely to be. As shadows, they sneaked to the rear part of the bar.

Of course, they raised their weapons when the door opened.

Denzel, Cloud's adopted son, raised an eyebrow. He was holding two garbage bags.

"Uh...hello?"

"Eh, buddy, d'ya know if a really busty girl with blue eyes and hair like a Chocobo's been around here?"

"I...don't know. Let me ask Tifa, 'kay?"

* * *

"He's annoyed, but he's been entertained by the crises this world has gone through. This Jenova thing might have gathered his interest enough to prevent him from going berserk."

"I have a hard time imagining Vince would be capable of losing it. On the other hand, he's chronically depressed, I know next to nothing about his past aside from what he's told me. I trust him as an ally in the battlefield; I know he's essentially a good guy who's gone through a lot of crap, but I really don't know him personally. Look, I'm gonna be honest with you. Last time I checked, Vincent was still sulking around in Nibelheim. That's your safest bet. Other than that, I don't know what to say. I've got his number, but he's not the sort to answer calls until the point is nearly moot."

"Cloud?"

"Uh? Teef?"

Seras rose to greet the entering woman. The third eye saw nothing odd about her- she was a normal person. Though, with a little common sense, she saw it was quite the opposite. She had almost as many scars as Strife, though hers were less noticeable. The arms and stomach had a layer of muscle that belied extensive physical combat expertise. Her attitude was kind, but Seras knew first hand people like that could become the fiercest warriors. Then again, what else could you expect from someone who spoke with a world savior on a first name basis?

"Uh, hello. My name's Seras Victoria. Nice to meet you."

"Tifa Lockhart. Sorry to interrupt, but I think some friends of yours are waiting for you outside."

Seras sighed. The Turks again.

"How heavily armed are they?"

"They're using stat weapons. Poison, sleep, paralysis..."

Seras pondered this for a second.

"Suppose I leave with them not noticing. Will there be consequences?"

Cloud stated:

"No, of course not. But how do you plan on leaving without them noticing?"

Seras turned to the wall, giggled for a moment, and replied:

"Watch me..."

And she walked and her body melted into the wall.

"Cloud?"

"Yes?"

"Who... Er... How...?"

"Old friend of Vincent's. Also has _powers_. For the moment, my advice? Let her go. I know now she's not the kind of person I'd like against me."

"She seemed like a nice girl."

"Oh, yes. But I still don't know if I should trust her or not. Not fully. Not yet."


	4. Running Late

'Allo. Nobody expected to see this again in a while, eh? Good. I like to surprise ya folks. I have to keep you all on your toes. Thanks to the reviewers who donated their time to voice in their opinions (mind you, ten reviews for three chapters is quite the record for me at this point). For anyone interested in chronology, this takes place in the same universe as _Madhouse, _but it's some time before the events of _Menace of the Medusa Mask _and after the as-of-yet unseen finale of this story and the roots of _Hellsing: Inferno,_ and way after _Divine Judgment. _But seriously, sorry for the delays. I kinda erased much of my progress on this chapter just before posting it last week. Read and review. All three of the texts posted today. All right? Please.

All got that? No? Think about it. It's all gonna make sense, eventually. The true evolution of the Fool is yet to come.

* * *

In all truthfulness, perhaps it would have been better to simply wait until everybody was distracted to fade into the background unnoticed. Then again, subtlety was never her strong point. She was still getting used to cloak and dagger operations and sincerely she was having a relatively hard time with it all. On the other hand, they would be lost for a good while as she made good her way towards Nibelheim, wherever it was.

Also a good time to see how good at improvising she was. She noticed a group of parked vehicles in a row at the exit of a well-lit building from where many people loaded with many forms of luggage were exiting. And of course, the buses around clued her. She went into the bus station and started looking for world maps that could help her indicate where she was and where Nibelheim was in respect to her own position. On a wall she found a map clearly marking her position. Edge. She stared at it for a good while until at long last she made out where she had been in the last day and calculating the distance. At long last, she sighed. She had walked from her extraction point nearly twenty miles to the farm, and had been taken perhaps a hundred miles before the bus had broken down. And the helicopter ride with the Turks had probably been longer than sixteen hundred miles in a little over four hours.

And still, Nibelheim was, if she was interpreting the map's scale correctly, over six thousand miles away. Oh, and there was the issue of a transoceanic journey.

She sighed. Now where was she going to find a plane capable of taking her to Nibelheim?

So she wasted no time, and promptly asked. There were options to reach Nibelheim. Reaching Junon and taking a ship to Costa del Sol and hoping to find somebody with the right gear to take her there. See if any deliveries were bound to Rocket Town and find a passage there. Or, as the receptionist laughingly suggested, find somewhere to hide in the armored airship bound for Cosmo Canyon. Seras politely laughed, discreetly probed her about the airship and details of the trip and left knowing a bit more about the best path to Nibelheim. She had to be on that airship when it left in the early hours of the morn. Granted, it was a scientific expedition, and the security would be tight.

She could care less about security, though. Cosmo Canyon was her safest bet and she was going to leave in that airship. Now, if she could convince the Turks to leave her alone...

* * *

Seras' concerns about the relentless leftovers of the secret intelligence officers of Shinra was a well founded one.

"So, we lost her. She's going to keep trying to find big, bad and red. So... anybody has any ideas on where _he_ might be?"

"Not really. He's on "vacation time". It's always the same excuse good ole Reeve uses when it's apparent Vincent has pulled a vanishing act and gone AWOL. Everybody's been trying to get to him for a while, but only Strife or his pals would know for sure, and, well, anybody willing to try him to talk is welcome in my book."

"Okay. So, we don't know where she's heading or where her target is, but what about we double check Vincent's list of known relatives and friends from back to the time he was here in Shinra, and cull it up against the known matches for Rude's ID search? Hell, she might be the daughter or a sister of someone he knew from those days."

"Didn't get much. But good idea, anyway. Leader?"

"It's our only lead at the moment. Go do that and then sign off while I report our failure to pursue."

* * *

Cloud pulled out his cell and briefly played with it. He glanced at the big wall clock. Ten o'clock. It wasn't as if _he _actually slept.

So he opened it and selected a specific number. He let the phone dial and beep for a good full minute before he was sent to voice mail.

"Vince. Damn. Don't let me hanging over this. I'm only human."

* * *

Seras had very little difficulty finding the airship; the true trick was boarding it unnoticed. With a judicious use of her speed, she managed to evade the guards' gaze and made it safely to the loading ramp. Once this was done, she had very little trouble in finding an alcove she could hide in for the length of the journey. It was somewhat farther than her original goal, but she had hopes of crossing the thousand miles separating Cosmo from Nibelheim with relative ease based upon her conversation with the receptionist.

The trip was horribly long to her undead senses and left her both wishing to drink from the packets she held to and to leave them alone lest she ended up proving vampires were not above such human acts as vomiting. Her previous transatlantic travels to and from Rio were less than a stellar memory and she preferred to try and remain hidden, not disturbing anyone and preferring to try to sleep with barely a modicum of success.

And ultimately, all of them, the Turks, Seras, Cloud, and a red-clad man, all of them slept.

* * *

And elsewhere, a fragmented will slowly pieced itself together. The blackness congealed and writhed, given an unnatural life, a terrible shape. Many corrupt voices wished it so.

And many hearts and many wishes give substance to the most immaterial of desires.

* * *

The next morning, a brand new day, the heavy silvery airship landed in the red, almost barren soil of Cosmo. Crates of technological gadgets and materials were unloaded through the ramps of the airship. In spite of the rising sun, escape was child's play for Seras. Sliding and dashing through the hordes of people without her powers was quite fun for her. After all, she had been overtly reliant on the blood-fueled abilities lately and it made for good practice. The overwhelmed guard lost her rather quickly in the crowd and she slipped unnoticed in one of the cavernous entrances to the rocky dwellings of Cosmo.

"Welcome, Miss. What can I serve you?"

Seras looked around her. The several tables surrounding her and the smoke in the air screamed bar. She wondered what was the closest thing to an acceptable drink she could order.

"Uh. D'you have tomato juice?"

"Sure thing, Miss. Hang on a second, will you?"

And Seras sat in the comfortable half light of the bar. In a matter of minutes, her drink was served.

"Thank you. Hey, can I ask you a question? What's the easiest way to reach Nibelheim?"

"Eh. Ya going to Nibelheim?"

"Me? Sure. Who's asking?"

A mountain of a man rose from his chair nearby and moved over to sit next to Seras. The muscled man eyed her critically.

"Ya willin' ta share costs for a buggy for the trip?"

"Money isn't an issue for me. I need to find my... father, and take him home."

"S' all right. Pal of mine is in Nibelheim. I need to drag his sorry butt down to Kalm an' see if a certain Wutai punk's in the area. Boss is payin' me nicely, but I don't like travelin' alone. Ya got a weapon, something to defend yourself? 'Cos I hate playing babysitter."

Seras smiled, the darkness around her covering her fangs.

"I have a gun, more than enough clips and extensive training."

"Hrm. Good. Lissen, I have to buy some stuff for my daughter. You can go an' play 'round Cosmo till five an' a half. Then we meet again here an' do business with the local guys. Seven hundred gil sound reasonable to you, for the round trip, plus gas?"

"Sure. Why not? When whould we reach Nibelheim?"

"'S at least twelve hundred miles, so I'd say we'd be talking about twenty hours. So if we get out at seven tonight, we night make it for dinner tomorrow at Nibelheim."

"Sounds great. Beats waiting four days for a trip to Nibelheim from Rocket Town."

"Good. Name's Barret Wallace."

Seras waited for a second and warned herself about the annoying persistence of the Turks. A few guarantees could be very useful in the end.

"Integra Hellsing. Nice to meet you, Mister Wallace."

* * *

"God, I'm one sec away from swingin' down this $%& scaffold just to give ya a right cross on the %$&% kisser, Vince. What the %$#%$ did ya do to the cape?"

"I just thought it would be a better image. After all, I am trying to leave behind my past. With all the self-loathing I'd had to endure, do you think I'm really fond of the memories of having that thing draped over me for over thirty years? I mean, to me it might as well be a death shroud."

And Cid Highwind dropped his wrench and manipulated the controls of the pulley holding him before an immense jet engine to slowly drop him to ground. As he touched firm floor, he released latch after latch in the contraption, all the while curiously observed by his old friend. When he was free, he angrily hissed and walked over to a corner in his workshop normally covered in heavy drapes, retrieving a full-body mirror he found utterly tasteless and which he had banished out of his home. Noting it was still relatively clean, he dragged it to the corner where his comrade sat. Propping up the mirror, he huffed:

"Vince, look at yerself. You look like a %#${?%# pimp, fer the Planet's sake!"

And the another man examined himself in the mirror, first normally, then squinting and twisting and craning his neck.

"Is it the tie?"

And Cid Highwind simply facepalmed. If the man wanted to go around in style, he had to find someone with expertise.

"C'mon, ya $#% freak. Lemme take ya to someone who at least understands $$&%# things like textures and colors. And honestly, the $#%#$ tie is the last of yer problems. Fer chrissakes, how th' %#$# hell did ya manage to cobble up something so $##$ horrible?"

"Well. I tried patterning myself after a great man I met once in a dream. Do you think I would be better off going to a tailor?"

Cid Highwind stopped, rubbed the bridge of his nose and said:

"Yes, Vince. Fer once, I actually endorse going to the %#$%$ tailor."

* * *

"All right. So do we have any positive results?"

"Nope, not really. However, we did find something reaally weird. Elena ran tests on the simulation you asked and found out even our friggin' best Materia enhancement systems don't allow someone like her to use something as heavy as Seras girl was playing with. Either she was pulling our leg, which I kinda find quite possible, or she had to be stronger than freakin' Strife. The kick from a weapon like she described was enough to break all bones in the arm if not worse."

"...I'd agree. But her guns were good enough to bring down Creepers. And honestly, she's resilient. _Very_ resilient."

"...All right. I'll work on approval to use heavy weaponry against her next time we meet."

"Ooooo! So, can I use it? Pretty pretty please with cherry on top?"

"Yes, Reno. Unfortunately, I think we might have to open that can of worms."

* * *

And the Black took shape. Bones hardened, and around them tissue was rewoven. Nerves were threaded across the growing body, forming a brain. Muscles and sinew remade themselves in the darkness of the depths. Organs were produced in the most antinatural of terrors, and a heart that was to know only hate for its enemies and love for the being that spawned it started beating. As the regeneration kicked in, the bubble of corrupt elixir slowly floated in the Stream to the surface. Where, soon, if the Will calculated correctly, soon two others would follow shortly.

It would still take time for the occupant to exit. More or less a day. But it was done. Again and again the outsiders could try to destroy her offspring, her beloved children. Fools.

She was a Goddess. The World would be Hers and it would all be glorious as she travelled to devour it all.

And those who dared oppose her would _suffer_. So swore the Will.

* * *

Seras had a long nap. Cradled in the secure darkness of the caverns below Cosmo, she had an excellent meal before awakening at five o' clock. Upon awakening, she was pleasantly surprised to note the dying sun of Cosmo barely bothered her. She still had some time to burn before her meeting, and decided to check out the markets. While much of Cosmo held nothing of interest to her, she did indeed find several pieces of Materia for sale. Briefly conferring with her common sense, she bought some of them, making sure none of them held a sentient spirit like the last she had absorbed. Discreetly, she placed them in one of her coat pockets, where she could unnoticeably eat them as the journey went on through her shadow arm. After all, if she was understanding correctly, she was already under some scrutiny because of her abilities - no need to worsen that reputation by visibly swallowing Materia.

"You. Miss Hellsing. Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Say, how's the weather in Nibelheim these days?"

"Cold an' chilly. Overcast skies. As if Nibelheim had any other weather."

"Oh. Good. Just checking. Now what?"

"Jes' waiting for the buggy."

Soon enough, the yellow machine rolled in, just outside of Cosmo's natural defensive walls. After a little haggle, the price was set: both Seras and Wallace would pay a thousand gil for the rent of the buggy for four days. Both convened in a shift system: Seras would drive the first ten hours or so, and Barret would do so for the final ones.

"An' how is this ole man of yers?"

"He's... difficult to describe. He's a tenacious man, always refusing to bow down or to surrender. He likes to give his enemies the impression he's face down on the dirt and give them the beatdown of their lives. Tricky, deceitful and generally untrustworthy except for those he cares about. And just to top it off, he's half insane, always laughing and enjoying the hunt like he's some sort of ancient warrior pursuing his prey across the land. Say, what about this friend of yours? What's he employed in?"

"WRO stuff. He technically goes around, mopping problems around this old world of ours. He's very different to your old man; he attacks fast as a knife and he goes down hard. He has the weapons, the skill and absolutely no hesitation. He's always half insane too, but not like yer dad. He's always half lost in the past, thinking "Oh, woe betide me!" "What if things had gone differently?" Jesh. Fraggin' emo. He cares about people too, in a diff way. He just keeps lookin' from the darkness, if only to make sure we're all right."

"Seems they're quite different, eh?"

* * *

And in the middle of the night, the black bubble burst. A parody of humanity stepped out and drew breath once more.

It noticed it had very little equipment. Luckily, in the village looming below the mountains, many people were bound to have all he required.

* * *

Seras was shaken away from the spirit of the Harkonnen, who again moaned about being changed for Sting.

"Uh?"

"Rise an' shine. Welcome ta Nibelheim."

Seras adjusted her position in the buggy seat and opened the satchel. Apologizing for her need of "medicine", she drank the next plasma bag, while entertaining herself with the spectacle of the approaching town. Nibelheim seemed like such a sleepy town, like nothing ever happened. She idly wondered why her Master would have gone to inter himself in that kind of place. Then, she saw it.

A huge, dark, looming mansion.

_"Memories of Hellsing Manor, Master? Huh. Should have supposed so."_

"All right. Pullin' over. Jes' lemme go to the inn. Ya need a room?"

"Uh? Eh, no, no, I don't. Just let me see if I find my dad, okay? 'Twas nice to travel with you!"

"Right up to ya, kid!"

She left Barret and walked towards one of the streets of Nibelheim. When she was sure he was no longer in her visual range, she started walking to the mansion. Effortlessly vaulting across the gate, she broke open the door and entered. Sighing, she murmured:

"A very good substitute for Hellsing Manor if I ever saw one, Master. Now, where are you?"

It took her a bit of time. But the strong smell of death beckoned her; it was now second nature for her, and she only had to follow it to find her Master. Feeling like a bloodhound, she traced the smell to the second floor and started searching the rooms. So she eventually found a secret passage in one of the mansion's bedrooms. Following the scent, she went down the spiraling staircase of the secret tower into the dark and entered the rotting passage full of resting bats.

And the smell grew stronger. Just through the door.

She kicked open the door. A strange marvel, mixture of graveyard, torture chamber and bedroom awaited her.

And in the center of it all, a black lacquered coffin.

Something buzzed in the interior pockets of her coat. Taking it out, she saw it was the device given to her, the "tracker" that could pinpoint her Master's presence.

She felt very unsurprised when the device grew stronger and louder when approaching the coffin. Opening it, the device stopped and started flashing lights.

"Gotcha, Master. Now, where are you?"

And then something alerted her senses. In a flash, she had turned around and shot forward a dash of shadow matter. Something sank in the living darkness and fell to the floor with a clank. Seras, alerted, carefully knelt to observe the object thrown at her. It was a very simple, very long and very deadly kunai.

"Hey! How did you manage to do that? Nobody enters here and does that! Now suffer the revenge of the..."

Taking out the Jackal, Seras sneered:

"Shut up. Come here and fight or crawl back to your hole."

She was already so close. No one was going to go and bully her.

"Suffer the vengeance of the White Rose of Wutai, unbeliever!"

Seras simply smiled and readied to shoot down the incoming hail of stars.


	5. A Taste of Blood

All righto. Since last week's combo seems to have been a smashing success, today the winning trifecta repeats, for the last time, since I don't have any more ideas at the moment for _First Time_. And so we go onwards with this tomfoolery. Read, review and make me happy.

Square-Enix owns pretty much all of these gents, and the dame belongs to Hirano. Capice?

* * *

Seras couldn't avoid smirking. The ninja wannabe had been dealt with swiftly and without problem. And best of all, she didn't have to do a single thing for that. Hell, the girl had pretty much knocked herself out. Didn't ninja training include basic lessons such as avoiding running in dark tunnels when one neither knew the tunnel or had a light? The girl, lost in the dark as she was, was no match for an opponent capable of seeing in the dark. A simple cosh had sent her to dreamland, nicely and bloodlessly. Snickering to herself, she continued to explore the dark undergound corridors where her master had been passing his time. Eventually, she came to a larger chamber that housed an extremely large array of laboratory equipment and a huge library. She frowned and deployed the scanner for a depth reading.

Scanning the whole of the equipment and of the hall took quite a while, and Seras meanwhile made sure the unconscious ninja would not try anything funny by taking the knife belt and the various kunai and throwing stars the girl hung on to. She also made sure to remove every last piece of Materia on her (quite a bit of them, actually), which promptly got added to her own growing collection. The single exception was a shiny red piece, which Seras recognized as housing a living spirit of flame. That piece she put aside, wondering what to do with that one. As the scanner kept collecting data all over the mansion and Nibelheim itself, she passed the time by taking out a blood bag and emptying it to her heart's content.

At long last, the analysis was complete. Examining the device, Seras swore. Somehow, the thing was simply detecting the presence of her Master through the black coffin in the adjacent room. What was the thing trying to say? Huffing, Seras left the underground section of the mansion, then the mansion itself. Outside, the cloudy sky of Nibelheim had quickly darkened in the scant hour she had passed inside the house into a dark gray, with barely any light . Moving out of the manor's drive, she opened the exit gate and dumped the whole blade collection into a nearby trashcan. Sighing, she then resumed her own way. Time to find out where _he_ was now.

"Unnhhh..."

Seras' senses stiffened. Across the Nibelheim streets, someone was following her.

"You..."

And the smile that danced in her face, in all honesty, was extremely reminiscent of her master.

"Wha... did you do...?"

"You practically knocked yourself out. You went around, running in the dark and ran into me. Not a good choice."

"My weapons? What did ya do to them, you thief? Ya heard me? THIEF!"

"Shut up. And just lemme guess. The Materia wasn't all yours, was it?"

"IT WAS MINE! GIVE IT BACK, YA THIEF!"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Your blades are in the trashcan. Good luck getting them out in the dark."

"Who dares defy the..."

Seras simply massaged her temple.

"Sticks and stones, girl... really, you're just getting deeper and deeper into my territory, I'm pissed off, strong and rested. You're still woozy by that cosh in your neck and are nearly completely disarmed. I dumped your knives and took all of your Materia. I can very well in the dark and I've already won against you once..."

And before Seras could continue, the ninja took out a small phial out of an inner pocket, and downed it in a single swallow.

"Oh, now what?"

The girl smiled in the darkness.

* * *

The inhuman, insane drifter approached Nibelheim.

Odd, two women, fighting in the street...

* * *

"PHOENIX!"

A blinding light filled the alley. Searing waves of heat started flooding Seras' surroundings. And heavens, the flames, the immense, colorful bird, the piece of Materia she'd rejected...

The fire became unbearable... the flames consumed her darkness, the burning light filled her world... She protected her weak left arm, hissing in pain...

It was worse than holding Anderson's blade. While that bayonet carried the blessings of the cross, the fire was pure, undiluted life, destroying the death power that drove her onward...

She opened her mouth, but no scream came. In an instant, with a single attack, the Phoenix reduced her to a smoldering skeleton.

Yuffie, who had been protecting her eyes from the blazing light of the summoned creature, saw nothing as darkness fell again.

Unseen in the dark, a rather large dash of shadow matter survived. It ran and shifted in the black corners of the street, greedily consuming the falling Materia pieces it encountered, reasoning on pure animalistic desire to hunt or be hunted, the last human thoughts left in the back burner of whatever mind it still held on to. Shifting and twisting, it soon assumed a different shape. The Shadow Creepers that now served the Unliving Queen still ached for death and mayhem. And the darkness granted them their wish. As one, the horrific composite of the three beings, three heads sprouting from their conjoined body, rose in the shadows, as the unsuspecting ninja, utterly lost to the consequences of her actions, still scoured the ground to search for her stolen items.

"Oh, where is it? Where are they? You, why don't you come and help? That way I won't hafta trounce ya!"

And it grew as it crawled to Seras' blood packets, and drained the entire box of its contents, and more and more shadow matter started covering the undying bones. Bag after bag of medical plasma quenched the darkness that made up Seras' body's thirst for a second, and after that it returned, with a vengeance. Cold blood from outside the body only served to increase its fury. It wanted to hunt and kill and drink warm blood from the living. The darkness craved it. It was its desire, its reason of being.

And when Yuffie Kisaragi turned away, the immense beast was ready to kill her for the precious gift she would deliver to its mistress. Dozens of red eyes narrowed, and rows upon rows of teeth and claws clicked in anticipation. The Horror was born.

And then, he came.

Mouth agape, he saw the Horror, the Darkness and the Blood. And in the madness of it all, he saw his Mother.

The stolen memories of the Stream flashed before him. The twisted power of Jenova, given flesh and life again. And the brat dared to try and destroy it.

Over his dead body. Once, his older brother had been reborn from within him when his cells touched his skin.

It seemed again, it was the time for that sacrifice.

* * *

Yuffie was confused. Not a single piece of Materia in sight, despite the fact she knew the strange assailant she had lost to in Vincent's crypt had taken her quarry for the week. Granted, she was not as active as she had been in her teens, but that was no reason to let a good Materia assortment get lost at the hands of a cheap two-bit thief. Of course, it could become worse, if word spread out that the great Yuffie Kisaragi had been bested by a novice in the game. Having dumped the contents of the wastebasket, she was slowly piecing together the knife collection she had lost.

"Heck, where is it? Where did ya put my Materia?"

And the man in black snuck behind her and took a piece of Seras, which broke off with a snap.

"You helped kill me!"

Yuffie turned in alarm, recognizing the voice.

"You helped kill my brother!"

The silver hair and the green eyes...

"Let my brother rise again!"

"Stop it, you fool! Are you willing to sacrifice yourself just to let that maniac rise again from the dead?"

"You call him maniac. I... call him family."

Taking the rib he had snapped from Seras' corpse, Kadaj drove it into his abdomen.

The screech of pain was far louder than Yuffie expected. The huge streams of darkness were not the colorless black of the tainted Lifestream, but were surrouded by a blood-red aura of pure malevolence, with vague, obscene details of several warped anatomies. The construct screamed further as the converging waves of Red and Black entered him and his organs were devoured from the inside. Instead of the transmutation he expected, something else was taking place, with the shadow matter eating up his Tainted Lifestream-generated body. And the Horror appeared and finished the job, holding him in its outstretched hands as its last defenses fell, and he erupted into a mass of dark energy particles that added to the huge monster in a swirling torrents of shadows.

And Yuffie screamed as well. But not in pain. In terror.

Unnoticed in the darkness, the last remains of the corpse were swallowed by the Darkness, and integrated into the Horror.

The huge monster before her was not, could not, be natural. The head had to have at least eight glowing red eyes, and the hundreds of teeth lining its mouths were covered in drool and blood. The shape of the head and the general body outline vaguely resembled Hades, but the thing was much, much bigger than the Summon, and insanely faster. The dark titan before her was a huge, horrific _thing _of pure darkness and death, like an evil angel far, far worse than the One-Winged power she had helped crush. Hundreds of red eyes and gaping mouths opened under the huge black shape, resembling a coat or a robe. From the soaked cobblestones below, hundreds of black hands shot towards the full moon, beckoning to the Horror.

And in the draping robes or coat of the Horror, Yuffie could swear she could see people trapped within, writhing in vain attempts to get out. Huge eyes and mouths were also present.

And at long last, the Horror congealed into a stable shape, a huge, looming female Angel. Instantly, swarms of bats converged, surrounding it in a protective shield. And then, the towering daemon started moving, slowly drifting away from Yuffie. With a blast of red energy, the left arm ceased to be. From its back, lines of crimson power started creating something new. Where its left arm should be, a huge gaping mouth opened from the darkness as it assumed its new shape, something resembling a Geiger creation, an arm cannon fused to a Creeper's head or a grinning, warped skull, gifted with the demented array of teeth omnipresent in the Angel, as its end. Four huge bat wings of crackling red energy grew in a split second from its back, as the Angel gained speed.

The Angel was growing in power.

With a powerful leap into the air, it shot into the Nibelheim sky. Soaring through the night heavens of Gaia, it fled in the direction of Mount Nibel.

* * *

Not too long after, it reached the reactor, and dismissed the ruins. It wasn't hungry. Orders... it remembered orders.

As its mind reasserted itself, it started thinking again like a human. Remembering its name and purpose.

To find the man in red.

* * *

In Nibelheim, next morning, neighbors were surprised to find a fine amount of cash being blown away by the morning winds, several tattered pieces of clothing, a ruined box of medical plasma bags, and oddest of it all, a tremedously heavy hand cannon with its ammunition. As if last night's events weren't sufficiently strange.

Nobody really understood what was going on.

Everybody was suitably shocked and then everybody fell back into the same old routine. Somebody stopped by the next day, bought the thing away and recommended all he talked to to simply keep their collective traps shut. Nobody ask questions and everybody gets a prize.

That, they did understand.

* * *

Not too long after, in a Mount Nibel cavern, Seras Victoria awoke, with the worst headache she ever remembered having. Hell, she'd apparently slept through the morning and the evening, awakening just to see the setting sun just beyond Rocket Town. Groggily, she rubbed her eye and noticed something weird.

She wasn't wearing the same clothes she remembered having the day before. For that matter, the Jackal seemed to be absent. Along with its ammo. And her cash. And her blood.

"All right. I royally screwed up."

What she wore was a dirty combination of denim overalls, red shirt and brown leather coat. Nothing fancy. Looking around to check for her current resources, she gasped when she noted the skeleton in the corner. She soon calmed, though. As soon as she realized she couldn't have been the cause of death for the aged bones. Nearby, several pieces of mining equipment were strewn around a strange vein of silvery, glittering metal. A box nearby was filled with three yellow Materia pieces. Sighing, Seras pocketed the Materia pieces to replace the blood packets she had already lost. Exploring the small grotto, she found a small bedroom of sorts, long abandoned. In the nearby drawers she managed to find one or two bills and a handful of pocket change, and a locker of sorts, its door ripped from its hinges and the clothes inside thrown out.

Now, if she could correctly remember how on Earth that had happened...

Leaving the cavern, she left for the settlement below, and made an inventory of what she still had.

"It's the clothes on my back now, which I think I took from that mine, and the Materia, which I also took from the cave, a little money, also from there, and a huge mass of souls inside me. Now, for the big question - what do I do?"

She pondered her options. She could head back to Nibelheim - if she knew in what direction it was. Well, it was at the other side of the mountains, but the range was so huge she sincerely didn't have much faith in finding Nibelheim. She could go to the town below and find out where she was and how she could get back. After all, it was her only lead.

* * *

"WHAT?"

"Sheesh, calm down, miss! I'm just tellin' ya the Cap left already with yer friend. Meh. Pathetic freak of nature."

"Where to?"

"How m'I supposed ta know, miss? The Cap is the Cap. Nobody questions him an' he calls the shots down here. Took his ole Bronc and went East. Corel, perhaps, or Costa del Sol."

Seras sighed, paid the bartender and left the small inn. Staring at the sky, at least, she mused, she had an idea of where to look.

But if that filthy undead was trying to test her, she would rip his head off.

* * *

"Boss?"

"Yes?"

"Um, we got a report of a serious disturbance in Nibelheim."

"Oh, damn. Not Nibelheim again. What the hell does that burg have that attracts all the lunatics? Is it the water?"

"I dunno. However, Kisaragi sent a report to her superiors in Edge. From what I managed to intercept, she was scared out of her goddamn mind, saying that one of the Remnants of Seph was back and that he had transformed into a freaking huge monster that had attacked her in there, some kinda summon or devil thing, red, she says."

Tseng hissed and shot a look at Reno.

"Why won't that bastard just roll over and die for real?"

"I dunno. We call out the Seras Victoria thing for now?"

His superior grunted, and buried his face in his hands.

"Yes. For now. Until we know for real what's going on at Nibelheim."

* * *

"All right. So you went inside the mansion. The mansion you'd only seen once, and you went down the crypt to see if he was down there."

Sniff. Head bobbing.

"Down there, somebody attacked you by behind, knocked you out, disarmed you, took your Materia, but had the precaution to leave you a nice Turbo Ether in yer pocket and yer mastered Phoenix summon in one of the library's desks."

A bit of hesitation, then again with the bobbing.

"Then, you woke up after a while, took the Phoenix materia and ran out of the mansion. You took on yer attacker and scared her off with tha Phoenix."

Nod.

"Fine. So there were ya, looking for yer knives when the %##$ Kadaj pops up."

Tears. Nod.

"S' all right. Calm down. So the guy stands there with his "world will be my mama's" speech and then stabs himself with Jenova or something."

More tears. Nod.

"An' then the monster comes."

Yuffie simply covered her face with her hands.

"Huge... red... black... mouths and eyes... horrible..."

Barret sighed.

"Have a drink. Just a sip of gin."

Taking the proferred tumbler, Yuffie steeled herself, and took a swig.

"It was the worst thing I've ever seen, and mind ya, I've seen terrors... it's gonna give me nightmares."

"Don't exaggerate. Yer gonna be fine. But now, we hafta find the monster and incinerate it. WRO's been warned, they're sending in a team."

"Team? Barret, that thing was bigger than the freaking street!"

"Then it's lucky we got the guy who's mowed down sumthin' like that already, eh?"

"They're sending Cloud? O Leviathan, thanks for small mercies!"

"Mhmm. As soon as Vince is found, they're sending his pasty white butt here, too. Can't be too careful when Jenova's involved."

* * *

And elsewhere, the Will screamed. It had lost one of the Three.

It didn't understand. Even if the First had been killed, he should have bled back into the Black Stream. But his voice wasn't there any longer, and he wasn't there.

The Second and Third were hastened. Time was of the essence. It was imperative to find the First.

Now, to think... what could have done this?

The First was strong, it knew, it knew he would not lose to a normal adversary...

he would have to be _swallowed..._


	6. Dead Again

My, my. So many nice views. I want to clarify this: it makes me extremely proud to know so many people are interested in reading my stories. However, my manly ego, supreme Baal of hunger it is, feels left out of the equation and, while partly sated by the loyal reviewers who feed it week after week, it just keeps on screaming and demanding more and more reviews. Honestly, people, I love ya, but I really would be grateful if the amount of views I'm getting for this would be at least slightly proportional to the amount of reviews I receive; never, _ever_, dare to subestimate the power of a man's incredibly inflated ego. To my dedicated reviewers, my continued gratitude. Oh, and everybody out there, do try to check out the new stuff I'm spouting off today. Read and review. All of 'em.

The "noodle incident" Seras and Zorin allude to is a future text. I still own nothing. And I'm still making no profit. Damn. Gotta come up with a better way to make cash.

* * *

"Um, Boss?"

"Now what, Reno?"

"I've got somethin' ta cheer ya up!"

"Is it Sephiroth's head on a platter?"

"Hardy har har. Nope. Just came back from Nibelheim in the company jet with Rude. Guess what I found on display on the goods store down there."

"When will you learn to be serious?"

CLANK!

"What the hell..."

"Seras girl's gun. Mind you, by my estimation, that thing's weight is around thirty five pounds. I wouldn't try to fire it. So we now know she has a lot of power she may or may not be willing to use, we still don't know jack about her and we know she was at the site of a confirmed Remnant of Sephiroth appearance. So..."

"So...?"

"Can I get the authorization to drive it now? See, she humiliated me and I kinda want some payback, ya get it?"

"What makes you think you can beat her with that machine?"

"Umm... Hope springs eternal?"

"Sigh. I'll see if somebody can issue a warrant for her as a person of interest and see what I can do about that damn thing. Oh, and Reno?"

"Yeees?"

"If you ever drive the thing... don't reduce it to slag."

* * *

Seras, as she stepped out of the Rocket Town limits, briefly stopped, leaned on a wall and inhaled deeply. She stared at the sky and wondered what an hour it was. The sun was already lower in the sky, proably around two or two and a half. The trip from the cave had inconvenienced her, but it was better. With still no clue as to what had happened the night before, she had better conserve as much energy as she could for as long as possible.

Something was _seriously_ wrong with her. Whatever had happened the day before was taking its toll upon her. Biting her lip, she hurried to find a peaceful place where she could sit down and deal with whatever was disturbing the balance of the Red Land. Soon enough, she found a scrapyard of sorts where there seemed to be little affluence. After double-checking and reassuring herself she would not be interrupted, she leaned against a piece of metal debris and sank into the abyss of the Land.

As she appeared there, she witnessed a strange man in black ferociously duelling with the souls of Yumie Takagi and the Captain with a strange dual-bladed sword, surrounded by the corpses of many, many of the other souls of the Land.

"Where is Jenova? Where is my mother? Take me to my mother, you bugs! Bugs! You're nothing! I'm the envoy, the opener of the way! I'll kill every single person to reach Jenova!"

Behind him, Seras cleared her throat. As expected, Kadaj turned around her and witnessed the deferency with which other souls treated her.

"You're the boss around here. Take me to Jenova or see every single life here slaughtered by my blade!"

"Sorry to break it to you, but I think there are three things you should know around here."

Kadaj, in a single swipe, decapitated her. The head rolled away and gave an audible sigh.

The headless body tapped with one foot for a good five seconds, crossing its arms.

As it got handed over its head by Pip and replaced it, she allowed a second for a regeneration and prepared to talk again. Just for show, she adjusted her neck with a sickening crack. Kadaj's expression was a perfect horror Seras almost enjoyed, and one that was only magnified as every soul he had killed rose again with new life.

"One. Everybody's already dead around here. "Killing" anybody just means you have less people to talk to for a while, you psychopathic manchild."

With a wave of her hand, Kadaj's sword faded into black dust.

"Two. This is my world. You're now in here and you're never getting out. Get used to it, 'cause I call the shots around here and I don't tolerate misbehaving. Every thing you hold to here is subject to my rules. I like you, you won't have trouble from me. I don't like you, you're going to suffer. Ask Zorin, just over there. Just a while ago, she was a really, really bad soul. Until I found what made her tick and we ended up having a very good agreement after a very interesting afternoon. And from what I've heard, you're one of the worst murderers of this world and an idiot to boot."

The hissing soul of Zorin smiled cruelly at Kadaj's predicament.

"And three. Jenova isn't here. I've heard enough about Jenova to know it eats life and kills it. So if I find any trace of it I'm going to burn it and dissolve the cinders on acid. Jenova and I are like green and red. Both really, really far away from the white, but opposite to each other. So think about it, son of Jenova..."

The looming form of the Captain approached Kadaj and restrained him.

"Have you wondered how pain feels when you're at the receiving end?"

Yumie approached him with her sword, and Seras left them to show him how loyal they were to her. Kadaj panted and hissed as the circle closed.

Pip approached her retreating form as the other souls of the Land ganged upon Kadaj.

"Oi. You all right, Draculina?"

Turning around, Pip saw Seras' expression was one of misery and sadness.

"Eh? Vhat's wrong?"

"Oh, you know... wondering."

"Pfah! Ideas. It's zis Jenova thing, ne? You're wondering, how much better am I when compared to that thing? You honestly need to relax. You and it are too different. You protect life, dammit! How many were saved by the time you and I finished crushing those Nazis, eh? You are a good person! Though, quite honestly, can't blame you. For having that kind of ideas. People who know for sure zis kinda thing are like ze idiot down there."

And Seras approached him and timidly wrapped one arm around him.

"I believe in you, Draculina. Pretty much of us all do."

She remained like that for a minute.

"Pip?"

"Yes?"

"What happened last night?"

They disentangled.

"Um... well, don't you remember?"

"No. What happened?"

"Eh, it's kinda hard to say... did you ever see your Master go Cosmic Horror on one of his enemies?"

"Cosmic horror? Like eyes and tentacles and mouths? Yeah, sure. Creeped the hell outta me. So what?"

"Well... last night, something happened. Something that brought out the potential for the same thing. In you."

Seras' jaw fell, and she stammered as she clung to Pip's lapel.

"WHAT?"

"Calm down, calm down! Let me explain. You... you got attacked, some kind of light, or fire, like Big Man Anderson's, but way, way worse... You almost died, almost became a monster... started eating all you could before the numbskull over there mistook you for that thing... Jenova? His body managed to heal yours when you ate him, but the source of the fire was still too close... the monster that was you became scared of the fire being used to fight it, and ran away to where you awoke..."

Seras released Pip.

"Great. Just great. Something here in this world has already the power to kill me and I'm still pursuing the shadow of that leech. Anything else?"

"Well. The big bird thing found a nice place to roost, it seems. And these things, like crystals, they've started appearing here and there. Green, violet, yellow..."

Seras bit her lip, and her eyes suddenly shot open.

"There's something outside! Just next to my body! Sorry, gotta go! Promise to stay longer next time!"

* * *

Elsewhere, though not far away, an exploration machine detected unusual activity in the junkyard. Drawn by the strange area where its scanners went haywire, the machine walked on, trying to get a lock on the source of the anomaly. As the controller pushed the necessary buttons, he wondered if it was a malfunction of his oldest and most valuable puppet. What he saw on the cameras nearly confirmed the theory.

There was only a blond girl, apparently trying to sleep in the darkness of the junkyard. Or she would be if she had an actual heartbeat.

The machine approached her. Intrigued, the horrified controller instructed to begin a depth scan. There was no blood, no marks, no visible wounds.

And then she opened her eyes and the scanners got totally fried.

The controller groaned as the machine fell on its last legs after transmitting its final images. He compared the woman's photo to any recent developments. Soon, the warrant issued by the Turks was displayed in front of him. Thinking for a minute, he took out his cell phone and prepared to talk to Shinra's president. Upon receiving the answering tone, he simply asked for information of the matter at hand. In response, he was promptly asked where the woman had been located. He answered, and received a modicum of information for his troubles. Laying down the cell, it became obvious Shinra was deeply interested in whoever Seras Victoria was.

And that probably just meant more work for him. If the lady was so dangerous, she had to be suitably understood.

So he made another call, learnt of the newest Nibelheim Incident, and had his team sent to Rocket Town.

* * *

As Seras awoke, she noticed the sun was already further down, not yet to the edge of the horizon, but closer than before her nap. Probably around three. Dark storm clouds had gathered already. More unusually, a toy of sorts that wasn't there when she started sleeping was convulsing at her feet. Extending her left arm, she took and examined it as closely as she could, but at first glance found nothing unusual about it. It appeared to be a small black and white smiling cartoon cat wearing shoes, a small red cape and a crown.

But as she opened the third eye, it became painfully clear the small toy was in fact an advanced spy machine transmitting to another location. The darkness she leaked had entered the device and was clearly causing it to malfunction. So she realized what had to be done. Dropping the toy, she crushed its head with her boot.

"God. Now I've really screwed up, haven't I?"

She set down the toy and started running away from Rocket Town in the straightest route she could trace with the indications she'd received towards Costa del Sol.

She prayed the sunlight was dimmed enough by the storm, and took off in flight.

* * *

Deep in the Lifestream, a Will hissed as it decided upon the next course of action. It decided the remaining Two would be sent to different locations to search for their lost brother. The Second would be released in Mount Nibel, the Third upon the ruins of Midgar. Both had priority orders to find the First, liberate him from whatever prison held him and kill all who opposed them. The Will bitterly reflected upon the fact the Three were far stronger when used in concert, but with no idea of what had happened, it was perhaps better to reduce the possibility of either being captured. For nothing would stop their mission. Or rather, could? Was that a hint of fear of failure in his thoughts?

The Will rejected that thought with an infinite disgust. He would win. At all costs. He would.

That being, the Will decided to sleep again when its tasks were performed. The events of the day had been confusing and extenuating, and it longed for rest.

* * *

Cloud received the news with a poker face. He had already suspected Seras Victoria not to be wholly on the Turks' graces. Now it was a matter of getting her to Vincent, see what he said and ensure she said everything she knew and demonstrated how huge were her powers. In any case, he was still being hired to go to Nibelheim as the WRO's hired muscle. He again retrieved each of the interlocking pieces of the huge sword he was so used to and assembled the main blade. Again, he said goodbye to his family with a heavy heart. Again, he ventured into the world beyond to destroy the threat from within.

And so he ended up loading everything he needed into the huge motorcycle, until Tifa came to say goodbye.

"It's Sephiroth again, isn't he?"

"Almost as bad. Remnants."

"Again, and again, they rise... with new life each time, as we are doomed to grow old. Do you think... one day, we might lose?"

"Let them try."

Both hugged. Gently, Cloud kissed her neck. With longing written across their brow, they bode their farewells.

* * *

Cid Highwind was royally pissed. He had flown across the entire continent just to get this particular man and not the guy didn't even have the decency to open up.

"Manuel, ya tosser! Open up, I know ye're still open!"

"Cid, I think we should come back tomorrow. The man you want is clearly not around."

"And endure ya prancing around like a bloody fruit with that on? Pass. 'Sides, Manuel likes my money."

The door bolted open.

"Manuel, I need an emergency job on my pal here. Double the normal fee if you can cook up something right off the bat."

The tailor stared at Vincent's clothes with a critical eye.

"You do know I could literally throw anything else I have in here and produce a better result, right?"

"It's the tie, isn't it?"

The tailor, amused, smiled at Cid.

"He's not very good at dressing himself, is he? Fine. Come on, I'll see what I can find in the backroom."

So both of them entered the small shop and sat in the waiting room while the man went to rummage around his wares.

"Cid, is this really necessary?"

"Vince. Lemme put it this way. You are one of this world's biggest kahunas. You're the man who held back the Apocalypse and who spat at Death's ugly face. You have more power than all of us combined. And with you prancing around, like that, people start forgetting you're an important man, and see you just as the emo freak you can get to be sometimes. And so, I say no more! Get a decent ensemble and throw out that monstrosity!"

"But I thought it looked nice and refined... at least, the way I saw it in the dream looked that way..."

"Copies are never good. Whatcha got fer us, Manuel?"

"See for yourself. Try these on, see if they fit."

"Woah! Now that's what I call style. Blood red, excellent fer this gent. Oooh, silk! This is elegance! Go on, see if any of this fits!"

Snickering, Cid then turned out to the tailor.

"Oy. You know where my pal can get some glasses, some goggles, perhaps?"

"There is an optometrist two blocks from here."

"Excellent. Excellent. So it wasn't a complete waste of time!"

* * *

Seras, after hours of extenuating flight, and consuming all of the Materia she had found, eventually managed to find Costa del Sol after getting lost for very considerable distances. It was already past midnight, and she was beat. She didn't care anybody saw her, though it was a good thing most of the town was sleeping already. Huffed, she stared scanning the diminutive coastal town in hopes of finding the traces the Monster of Monsters was bound to leave behind. After all, it wasn't in his nature to be quiet and calm if he sensed a decent opponent lurking by. Eventually, she did feel a red energy, something dark and horrible lurking in the little city. Quietly, she crossed the main touristic districts and kept following the red until she felt she had a lock-on.

Drifting apparently aimlessly, she eventually found where the energy was manating from. A dockyard, of all places.

There was a small house or office building at the end of the pier where several sailors were busy loading their ship with huge crates.

She paid them no heed. She had found her mark. She could feel the darkness, the redness, the blood.

Big mistake. She didn't see when one of the ropes used to load the crates up the ship snapped, and barely noticed, until it was too late, when the crate smashed the pier's wooden planks she was standing on, and had no time to call forth the darkness. She screamed as she fell to the waters below, and even more when her body was completely submerged. Try as much as she could, flailing her arms and thrusting forward, she kept falling, as the water suffused her body, disintegrating it. She tried to scream, to hold on to one of the dock's wooden posts, but her shadow arm then chose that moment to fade into nothingness. As the pain and the darkness grew, so did her fear.

The noise and the shriek had prompted the sailors to go down for her, but none could reach her in the depths. Not with the rate at which she was sinking into Costa del Sol's bay.

Her skin and muscles were being corroded by the waters. Each second, she saw her body degrade at immense steps. Blood, darkness and bits and pieces falling off her dotted the area.

Then somebody else dove in after her. Somebody stronger. And the last thing Seras saw before her consciousness was washed away with the underwater flow was her Master.

Red as blood. Black as soot. She extended her hand to reach his, just as her flesh faded, leaving only her skeleton behind.

In the shores, Cid awaited as Vincent returned for air, taking the girl with him.

He could only hold his breath when he saw the bones he was dragging from the depths.

* * *

Next day, Tseng arrived to the main Shinra base in Edge, again wondering how was Destiny going to screw him over and how he was supposed to stave off the inevitable for another day. He could hardly supress a sigh as he saw Reno breathlessly running towards him.

"Boss! Boss!"

"Now what?"

"We found her, and brought her in! Seras Victoria's ours!"

He leant back in quiet triumph. Stolidly, he asked:

"Excellent. How did you manage to?"

"Um... she was allergic to water?"

Tseng looked at Reno, uncomprehending. And then he was led to the examination room of the current Shinra building. The white, almost bleached skeleton grinning in the operation table mocked him with the fact it was dead alone. Now it would be impossible to get straight answers out of her.

"How?"

"Tolja, the water was dangerous to her. She was kicked out of a pier in Costa del Sol, sank like a rock, and started hissing and... I 'onno, melting? It was horrible, anyway, if I got the gist of the message. Local guys needed scuba gear and a boat to make sure it was whole. Didn't know what happened to the left arm, though. Nobody found anything. Vince himself was holding her when she melted. He was the one to give the body to Costa del Sol's hospital. Methinks he hadn't paid attention to his latest orders. So we gotta work fast before WRO comes and wants in whatever we find in this old girl."

"So it _is _whole?"

"Doc says it is a normal skeleton for a girl her age and weight, and complete except for the arm. Says there's proof of some kinda wound that cut it, but that it's an old wound. Mind ya, Sir... I really don't like mysteries. So I'm gonna go with the simple explanation. Way I see it, she had a prosthetic that sunk in Costa del Sol's bay before we could find it."

Tseng sighed.

"Good. Have the remains transferred to the main laboratory and start arranging the usual battery of tests."


	7. That Little Black Part

Hello there, everyone. I have the next chapter of this story.

I'm still holding it hostage. Drop all reviews ye have on ye and make no attempt to hold back. Same goes for _Arcana._

I'm not imposing any limits. But the more reviews I get, the happier I'm gonna be, and all of ye want a happy and smilin' Mat, don't you?

Incidentally, if anybody out there likes FFVII and _Madhouse_, wander around and chug some reviews on _Black Rebirth_, the Blackest Night/FFVII crossover I dared to offend your eyes with too. If the loot I receive for both is satisfactory, I'm going to deliver next week another chapter for _Madhouse_. But not the usual variety, mind you. It's gonna be a part of a two-part special called _Prelude to the Inferno_, starring the Suicide Squad and leading you to the beginning of the devastating events of _Hellsing: Inferno._

Own nothing. Not making money. Duh.

* * *

In the ruined Midgarian facilities of the eighth Mako reactor, yet again another monster rose from the murky depths of the hissing caldera below. Heaving what little equipment the poison below could give him, and dripping and reeking of the abominable will of Jenova, Loz started the ascent across the destroyed walls of the reactor. As soon as he was out of the derelict edifice, he stared into the distance at the nearby city. Edge, the touch-and-go base of the Shinra dogs and the disgusting fools who dared confront his mother's will.

Sighing at the distance, and realizing he would have little choice, he leapt off the reactor walls. Seconds which many would have mistaken for minutes later, he landed with a dry thump in the blighted soil. Clutching his weapon, he made a mental note to steal the next vehicle he could find and grant the owner a quick death. Edge was still far, far away from Midgar and he could not waste valuable time in running. His brother was out there, and the Shinra were his best bet in finding him.

The world would burn for daring to cheat his family of its rightful destiny.

He smirked at the idea of breaking all of their spirits, when She took over and the Planet could be cleansed of those miserable bugs.

Oh, yes. He would treasure that thought.

* * *

And in a Black Land, a voice giggled childishly. Little foolish Seras girl. Poor little Seras.

Seras couldn't see the pattern. She refused to activate her own innate ability to see the future. Hell, did she understand she had such a skill?

Utterly ironic, the Voice smirked. One of her world's most potent precognitives and not even knowing her own power.

Oh, but she, she, dwelling deep in her subconscious, cackled maniacally as the picture grew wider with each passing second and Seras' eyes did the work for her.

She knew how everything was going to unfold.

_-Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing... Oh, wasn't that a dainty dish, to set before the King?_

And she laughed, unrestrained and free.

* * *

"Is this the entire list of tests you want run in the bones, sir?"

"Yes. How many techies will we need, and for how long?"

"At least five if you want it done in minimum time. And that's around four hours if we start now."

"Unacceptable. You have two hours before the WRO starts demanding results."

"Three and three quarters hours."

"Two and a quarter."

"Three and a half."

"Two and a half."

"Three and a quarter."

"Done. Start. Do it fast."

* * *

The main director took the gurney and walked to a sealed section of the laboratory, reserved for experiments of supreme danger. Punching in a code through the blast door, the slab of concrete and steel swung open and shut after him. Placing the skull in a recipent for biohazardous materials, he donned a heavy suit specially designed to counter biological risks of extreme importance, sealed the package, closed the suit, and walked to a second, inner sanctum with yet another code. The Shinra wing for Anti-Jenova Research of their Edge laboratories. And so, five technicians took each a piece of the skeleton lying in the gurney before them and began working.

Placing the heavy recipent in a plinth of sorts, the scientist seized a small chisel and a minuiature hammer from one of the nearby desks. Carefully, he chipped off a small fragment of the skull. Placing it neatly in a clock glass and covering it in an agar gel, he sealed the bright red canister containing the skull, and initiated the sequence for the cameras on the laboratory. The cold voice of Rufus Shinra soon boomed across the small laboratory.

"Doctor van der Flamvell. Good evening."

"President. How nice of you to witness this yourself. I thought I would have only the Turks as my restless companions. Oh, well. I am just about to start the Mako tests on the skeleton."

"Excellent. I take it all containment measures have been taken?"

"But of course, President. I am eager to see if this is indeed a byproduct of Jenova; as you can remember, our supplies of pure Jenova cells are nearly depleted, and I want to see if we can extract any useful information from this. Oh, well. Initiating standard Jenova cell rejuvenation technique."

Placing the clock glass in a huge, cylindrical bioreactor, the suited man initiated what was the common procedure to deal with Jenova cells: spraying them lightly with a small dose of Mako, the lifeblood of the Planet, the blood running through the veins and arteries that were the Lifestream of Gaia, Jenova cells went through a phase of rapid rejuvenation which primed them for experimentation. Once the cells were ready, they were set in another part of the bioreactor to be meticulously analyzed. Multiple cameras relayed every step to both the laboratory databanks and to the screens viewed by the President.

"And now, President, if I might inquire how did you acquire this specimen? I believed there were no more natural Jenova samples of this size in captivity. Or in the wild, for that matter."

Rufus Shinra gaped.

"President?"

And the President pointed. The scientist turned around and saw something in the screen. Horrified, he screamed:

"Forgive me, President! Th-there must have been a contamination from somewhere! I... I..."

"Rewind the video."

"What?"

"Rewind. The. Goddamned. VIDEO!"

Fearfully, the scientist did as he was commanded to. And he understood.

As the bone sample was showered with the Mako, it blackened. It changed, divided and elongated. In less than a second, where there had been only a dry piece of bone now three tiny spiders and a pitch black centipede walked around the agar gel, eagerly consuming the blue goo. And as they did so, a blackness began to spread...

* * *

Tifa, meanwhile, parked her truck just outside of the Shinra base. In the back seat, Denzel and Marlene chattered around happily.

"Alright, kids, I'm just going in for around twenty minutes to settle down things with Tseng and have him send the package Reeve wanted to the WRO. Hopefully we can be home about twenty minutes before the bar opens, just to get things ready."

"What is that package you're supposed to be getting, Tifa?"

"I have no idea. Reeve was pretty desperate to get it, though. For such a phlegmatic guy, he did sound eager to get his hands on whatever it was. All right now, stay outta trouble!"

Entering the building, she had the receptionist call Tseng, and was promptly invited to take a seat.

After a while of waiting, she again rose and asked for the Turk. This time, a bit more insistently.

A few minutes later, Tseng ran into the entrance, followed closely by a man covered in a heavy biohazard suit.

"Tifa. Excuse me, but I assume you come from Reeve to check on the... thing?"

"Yes. And I've already spent way too much time here, Tseng. So, where is the package?"

"...come now. I think you better come and see this."

Intrigued, Tifa allowed Tseng to escort her to a closed CCTV chamber. Pressing a few buttons in the console, he played the video.

"Whatever this is, Tifa... this isn't Jenova. It kills Jenova. But it also is far more aggressive and virulent, not to mention horribly unstable. If the WRO wants in, this entire thing cannot be simply moved around like that. President Shinra has authorized me to request a larger WRO team. The call has already been placed, five minutes ago, and we are waiting for the team to show up. Go home. Right now, it's more a scientific affair over anything else and we have no need of anybody else for the moment."

* * *

The single tenant of the Black Land screeched in deranged laughter. All was set for her release.

-_London Bridge is broken down, falling down, falling down..._

* * *

And meanwhile, the second of the men in black now drove a small car. He smirked as the sun went down and the lights of the Shinra Edge base became visible. If anyone held his brother hostage, they would be the prime suspects. He pushed down the accelerator and sped up towards the building.

The time for subtlety had long since passed. Briefly, he considered slamming the car through the lobby and killing as many employees he could find until someone pointed him to anybody who could tell him anything about his brother. But the security bollards made that plan unfeasible at best. So he instead had to park and walk patiently as he got out his pile bunker, adjusted it comfortably to his wrist and prepared for some heavy talk. He made the call, and soon enough he found a response. Creepers were on their way.

He didn't see the kid in the truck. Nor would he have cared.

Except this kid happened to know him...

* * *

Tifa's cell rang.

"Excuse me, Tseng... Denzel?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, but I just left him and Marlene here, outside... Denzel?"

She waited for a second.

"What do you mean, you're not in the truck? What are you doing?"

Another second, and the blood froze in her veins.

She closed the cell, and motioned to Tseng.

"How many Turks and military personnel are here?"

"Fifty soldiers and I."

"Raise the alarm. Loz is here."

* * *

Meanwhile, an officinist was running in horror.

He had done nothing to warrant the nightmare he now was stuck in. He had lived a good life, he thought, but he didn't want to give it all up. He had a family, dammit!

He wanted to live! He _had _to live!

Moments later, the lightning of the Dual Hound had found its mark. The man fell screaming, right in the middle of the building's main hall.

"I don't like not being taken seriously. Where is my brother?"

"I wish I knew. If only to know where I have to go and kill him again."

Loz smiled again and raised his weapon. He was very unsurprised when he saw Tifa in the hallway, entering a combat stance.

"You again? This is boring. Tell me where my brother is and I might just grant you a quick death. For old times' sake."

"He was seen in Nibelheim, summoning a monster. Shouldn't you know these things?"

Loz stopped for a moment. The woman was right. He _should_ know. But he didn't. He didn't know what the hell Kadaj had been doing in Nibelheim. Or what had happened to him. And he wasn't anywhere Loz could hear him from.

"A summon? Mind being more specific?"

A punch. Block. Counter. Kick. Block. A swat and a brutal elbowing.

Neither stopped. Tifa connected a near-flawless kick against Loz' skull, which barely phased him. If anything else, he smiled more broadly.

Until he grabbed Tifa from the throat and raised her.

"Where. Is. My. Brother?"

Tifa, inwardly, groaned. She didn't want to reach the extremes, but necessity was necessity. She always had known the day when she might need some extra protection, either for less or more applied force. She just didn't want to believe it would come to that situation. In less than a second, she moved her hand to the hem of her skirt. Knowing perfectly Loz thought her a miserable wretch, and that she was weak enough not to be any threat, she planned to take complete advantage of that fact had full freedom in her arms.

In a flash, she had sunken the kunai upon Loz' wrist.

Unfortunately, that moment the Creepers chose to destroy parts of the floor, and emerge.

* * *

"Sir! The soldiers aren't on the league to confront a Remnant of Sephiroth attack with Creepers! Reinforcements are on their way, but we have no means of delaying the bastard!"

Tseng rubbed his forehead. Tifa was on the verge of being murdered and he could do nothing about it.

Hissing, he realized there was a final option.

Taking his sidearm and bolting out of the room, he yelled:

"Tell the researchers in the Biohazard area to shower the whole corpse with Mako and to disengage safety clamps! Then prepare to seal this building!"

"Sir, with all due respect, what are you planning to do?"

Tseng, biting back the bile returning to his mouth, answered:

"To fight fire with fire. Also, have the fire hoses outside ready and at full pressure. I want full coverage!"

* * *

"This is insanity."

"Agreed. But we have our orders. Pump this thing full of Mako, release security and evacuate."

"Here goes nothing..."

The two last remaining scientists turned on the Mako valve and ran away without looking back.

* * *

And in the Black Land, the giggling became full-blown insanity-fueled laughter.

She was getting out. For a brief moment, she would know freedom. For a brief moment, Seras Victoria would be herself.

* * *

The battle raged on. Loz, still reeling from the unexpected attack, kept his distance until he could fully recover. Tifa, rubbing her neck, still pained from the harsh treatment. but thanked every deity she could think of for carrying that silly Wutai memento from Yuffie. Meanwhile, she was being surrounded by the six huge creatures and the madman.

"You still have a deathwish... don't you? I wonder how the little children will fare once I skin you and leave you to rot here?"

"Don't you dare to talk about them like that!"

"Oh... he...heheehee. Even in the face of death you mock my glorious legacy and cling to your useless beliefs. Face it, lady, you're as good as dead. So I might find it entertaining to find the exact limits of that body of yours before it falls to my mother's will and obeys her commands. I wonder how my black sheep brother will feel when he sees you trying to kill him?"

Tifa merely clenched her teeth and prepared for her last fight.

And then the door opened, and two incendiary grenades flew through the air before immolating two of the Creepers. Tseng burst into the room, firing and reloading the huge shotgun in his hands as fast as he could.

"Out!"

Tifa needed nothing more. In the brief instant of confusion Tseng had bought her, she had enough time to escape the hall and make her way with the Turk to the lobby. Just as they were about to reach the exit doors, they, horrified, witnessed as huge metal screens lowered and shut with an ominous clang.

And behind them, five Creepers and the lunatic approached.

"You are going to die in the most painful manner I can come up with, and in your death you will see, deep inside your skulls, as my mother tugs at your strings like puppets and makes you kill everything and everyone you have ever loved. An I am going to watch and I am going to..."

An even greater cacophony resounded through the empty Shinra halls. Alarmed, Loz turned around and took aim with the Dual Hound.

Something was moving in the shadows.

"Show yourself!"

And then he saw the being.

A pale, emaciated caricature of humanity walked into the room. Deathly white, with long, colorless hair, feebly grasping at the walls. In the place of one of its arms, a long, disgusting blot of darkness formed a sort of twisted tentacle. The thing coughed, and a harsh, grating voice was briefly heard. For a second, it stumbled clumsily across the hall until it propped itself against a column and straightened itself. Once stabilized, it extended a weak arm to Loz.

"Saaa... saaaa..."

"Mother... mother?"

Dropping the Hound, Loz ran to the being.

"Is it you? Is it really you?"

Weakly, the being appeared to nod. Again, it raised its arm and this time, it managed to reach Loz' face. With a clumsy brush, it swept across his face. Slowly, unsteadily, it took Loz' head with both hands and took it closer to its. The Creepers were now fearfully making their approach, as Tifa and Tseng retreated to the back of the room.

"Mother. Mother."

Tears rolled down Loz' cheeks. The being smiled. It was a horrible, jagged smile. But in its depths Loz saw the future.

Calmly, slowly, the being caressed Loz' face. With a skillful twist, it exposed the pale, strong skin of the neck. And it opened wide.

The long fangs glistened for a brief moment before Loz realized he was not in the presence of Jenova.

The bite was hard. The blood gushed in thick red streams, and the being drank of it freely.

Loz cried as the being consumed his blood. Again, he was taken from his reward.

What seemed to be centuries afterwards, the being dropped Loz' lifeless body. And it laughed.

_"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."_

"Tseng. What is this?"

_"Hee. Heeha... HEE. Why. You weren't this impolite last time we met."_

"What?"

_"Oh my, you forgot? We saw each other not too long ago, didn't we, Teef?"_

"Tseng?"

_"Oh, come on. Oh, well, on the other hand, I really am not the same person who went to talk to dear Cloudy boy, am I, Tseng?"_

Tseng's normally composed visage twisted in a rictus of horror.

"Miss Victoria?"

_"Yes. Yesyesyesyesyes and no. I am she, but she's not me. You wanted to understand me, Tsengy, didn't you? To know what makes me tick. Just so dear old Seph could just roll over and die."_

"What the hell did you do to her?"

The being again laughed.

_"She's inside me, Tseng, sleeping deep into the darkness of the failed regeneration. Funny thing, though, isn't it? She has the potential, and it is I who uses it!"_

"Potential for what?"

Twisting and jumping across the room in a retorted dance, the being snickered.

_"For everything. She can regenerate from death already, she can call upon the strength of the souls within her. But can she already peer into the future? Oh, no, she can't. But I do, 'cause I am the part of her that knows, that knows everything for realsies. I'm that little nasty part of her that likes to go berserk, the part that likes the feeling of blood in her tongue, the part that knows everything about what's gonna happen. Didja know this conversation ends with you shooting that pipe overhead? Seras girl returns after the Mako in the pipe completes her regeneration and sends me back to the Black Land, but didja know? I'm gonna tell ya three things. Three glimpses of the future. On the house."_

"You're a monster and you're going to tell us _who _and _what _you are."

_"Number one. Cloud never manages to realize how to live in peace. Number two. You never figure out how to kill Seph forever. Number three: Seph wins."_

"What are you?"

The being smiled, a long, dangerous smile.

_"My name is Sabbath."_


	8. Fight the Future

Time for the next shot, everybody. but first, just to clarify and murk the waters at the same time, I'm gonna give ya a hint of Sabbath's true nature.

She's a sadist, high as a kite, who has no idea why she_ knows_ things that haven't come to pass, and _assumes _she can see the future. By extension, she _thinks_ Seras can do the same.

Seras, on the other hand, is most definitely_ not_ a precognitive. So... _what's_ going on, you ask?

There. Chekhov's Gun primed, loaded and placed in the mantelpiece. Wait for the exciting events of the Inferno Crisis to strike so Sabbath and Seras come to terms with each other and finally understand who they are supposed to be. Now, on to the truly important part... feed Baal. Be nice and drop your reviews at the exit.

For all of ye, people. Own nothing... you know the drill.

* * *

Sabbath choked with laughter.

_"You fear the cursed blessings of the Scarlet King, then? Wise."_

She proceeded to flail her whiplike arm against the Creepers, which retreated, cowed by the obvious lunacy of Sabbath. In an unspoken tactic, they agreed to a plan of action, one of them slamming against Sabbath hard enough to stun her as the others fled. While it was a fine tactic in paper, there were several flaws that prevented its usage in practical combat. Or as Von Moltke would have put it, their plan did not survive contact with Sabbath_. _Wrapping the tentacle around the charging Creeper, she hoisted it into the air and lobbed it against another of its brethen. As both struggled to rise, the piercing end of the arm penetrated both of them, and proceeded to continue with the process of siphoning their lives away.

_"Fools, aren't they? They haven't learned the harsh lesson of the true predator! To destroy without mercy, to attack without fear! To live without conscience, to exterminate without pity!"_

Tseng, in the corner, furiously struggled to reload his shotgun. He and Tifa, forgotten, had the element of chance on their side. And he'd be damned if he believed Sabbath's words, the words of a deranged, diseased bloodmonger intent on strengthening herself. Whatever had happened to Seras Victoria was a monstrous act he would not allow to be repeated. With a final jerk, the huge gun was finally loaded. Assuming the normal firing stance, and taking full advantage of Sabbath's distraction, Tseng took aim and grumbled:

"Then this won't come as a surprise."

Before he could actually fire, however, the body of one of the Creepers was hurled against him. In pure defense, he shot several times. To say he was relieved when the huge beast fell to the ground several feet away from him and Tifa was a massive understatement. Hissing in pure wrath, he reloaded and aimed at Sabbath's face.

She only grinned.

"MOVE!"

Tseng barely comprehended Tifa had crashed into him, shoving them both out of the way. And as he ran, he understood the cause for Tifa's alarm.

His shots had weakened the pipe overhead, and the radioactive green glow of Mako started growing in rapidly extending spiderweb fractures.

Sabbath only shrugged as drips and globs of Mako fell on her and nearby and the pipe started cracking.

_"Told you…"_

* * *

Outside, two of the remaining Turks breathed anxiously, knowing their leader would not fall. All of them knew perfectly well the line would be held. It was more a question of whether he would still be alive when the enemies stopped popping in.

Elena, fretting, asked Rude:

"Where is Reno? He should be here! We have to go in and evacuate the survivors!"

Rude merely smiled gently and pointed with his thumb at a faraway point in the horizon.

"What?"

Rude merely reiterated the gesture.

"Oh. I get it. Is this his idea of support?"

Rude shrugged.

"Support is support. We defend and protect in Shinra's best interests."

And far, far away, but homing in quickly, Reno cackled maniacally. The best comparison he could come up was that of a middle-low class kid, been given the keys to the biggest toy store in the whole wide world, and told to go absolutely insane inside.

"We win. We always win, you little bastards. Ya wanna see a real weapon? Sure thing."

* * *

In another continent, Cid and Vincent drowned their sorrows in a nearly empty Costa del Sol bar, careful to note how much each had drunk. Suddenly, Vincent started fidgeting.

"Eh? What's yer problem now, ya red freak?"

"I have the most terrible feeling, and I'm not sure what it is..."

"Sit. Drink. Prolly just another headache waiting to happen."

Placing his elbows on the counter, he twiddled his fingers for a moment. He then took out his cell phone and played around with the _Options_ menu until he found the number he was looking for. Knowing his call was probably expected anyway, he pressed _Dial._

The receiver's ID read:_ "Reeve Tuesti"._

He didn't get to speak with the man. Annoyed, he left and tried to use Cid's laptop to link to the WRO's transmissions in Edge.

* * *

And the Will screamed. The Second had been devoured as well.

_"Enough of cloak and dagger and smoke and mirrors! Let Shinra know I won't be party to their games again!"_

Howling with fury, the Third was given new instructions. Shinra was responsible for the deaths of Two. And the Third's responsibility was now to avenge them.

And in case he fell... there were safeguards in place. Let nobody claim the great General had become a mindless boar, charging head-on, believing all could be solved by brute force.

* * *

The pipe soon cracked open.

As soon as it happened, a pressurized gush of Mako covered Sabbath's body before safety valves shut the bursts of the liquid. Tseng, understanding of the horrific possibilities, again grasped the shotgun and opened fire three times against the madwoman's torso and head. The damaged body, unable to take more punishment, fell to the floor, lifeless again. Tseng, discarding the shotgun as he resignedly leaned on one of the walls, quipped:

"'bout time, too. I'm all out of ammo."

"...Tseng?"

Tifa's horror was very justified. Tseng groaned as the thick streams of Mako and impure, dead blood mixed together and flowed in a single, violently red stream back to the undead girl. The trickling rivulets forced themselves back upon the open wounds of the corpse, reforming the vandalized tissue in an instant and undoing all of Tseng's damage. The single part not to be recreated was the left arm, which again spouted a small fountain of a black ooze until the dark, oily substance was enough to reform in a parody of an inky, clawed arm.

And again, Seras Victoria opened her eyes and saw light.

And again, she cursed every deity she could think off the top of her head.

Trembling, still caked in the clear, sticky remains of the Mako, she managed to awkwardly rise and grab whatever was at hand in a mostly fruitless attempt to cover her nakedness. Sighing as she shielded herself from the light as much as she could, fighting back the tears of blood already dripping at the corners of her eyes, she sadly asked:

"...I assume I ended up killing people again?"

"Miss Victoria?"

"Yes."

"May I ask, what in the name of all Hells are you?"

Defeated, not even trying, Seras sat in one of the lobby's couches.

"It's hard to explain. But if you want the real, unencumbered truth, I'm just gonna go with this: I'm not something Nature ever intended to exist."

Tseng advanced, very, very slowly. Handing over his jacket, he sat down opposite to Seras.

"Do you currrently have the desire to harm or outright kill us?"

"No! I... I mean no harm."

The red tears were already streaming, and she found it too hard to stop.

"I... I only wanted to find my Master... nobody had to get hurt..."

Tseng, during the twenty-odd years he had served Shinra, had developed what he believed was a more than decent ability to judge people. And right now, the girl before him was crumbling, hard. There was no trace of the psychopath that had worn her form a few minutes earlier. She clasped the jacket harder and harder to her chest as her world unravelled. She had nothing to get a grip on, and she desperately clung to anything that could help her from a full-blown breakdown.

"If it helps, the only "human" casualty was a mass murderer. One of the worst."

"Eh? Another? Lord, I'm getting good at this, whether I want it or not..."

"Another? What do you mean with that?"

She heavily sighed. Observing around, she realized the strewn corpses of the Creepers nearby and the sealed exits meant only one thing: they were all trapped inside whatever place they were in. Smiling sadly, she managed to tighten the jacket somewhat snugly and laconically asked:

"You two up for a story? The full story?"

"We have the time."

Choking back tears with somewhat forced laughter, she slightly bowed.

"My name is Seras Victoria. I was once a normal police girl who just wanted to make a difference in my world. As human as any of you two. It all changed so fast..."

"Tell us. Was it Jenova that caused this?"

Seras briefly laughed, a true laughter that slightly dispelled the tension in the room.

"Jenova? Oh, dear God, no. Something very, very different. It's a disease, sure... Well, condition, disease, state of being... It's hard to classify. It's called vampirism."

The two incredulous stares she received convinced to elaborate.

Tseng only wanted to help. But if she kept talking and therefore giving valuable information, he wasn't going to complain.

* * *

Cloud again sighed when the huge airship approached Nibelheim. He swore it was the last time he was accepting missions from the WRO. He was already traumatized by the city more than enough and vowed not to return for a while. And certainly not alone. His woes, however, were somewhat allayed when he noted he was expected. Seeing Yuffie and Barret far away in the field where the airship landed, waiting for him, comforted him to a degree, knowing that at least he could get some comfort from both.

He was soon reunited with both. He exchanged greetings and was suitably surprised at Yuffie's decidedly unhealthy skin tone. He was then ushered to the local inn and prompted to have a drink. Once perfectly set in the rather bizarre situation, Barret grunted:

"Alright, Wutai. Time to spill. Tell Spiky all 'bout the... thing with Kadaj."

The thief, rather despondently, again repeated the full story, and fell silent at the end. Properly informed, Cloud remained silent for a minute.

"Okay. Quick question here. Did Kadaj look like he was trying to call Sephiroth?"

"That's what I thought first. Waving a bone on my face and then shoving it as hard as he could on his stomach."

Cloud fell silent.

"Penny for your thoughts, Spiky?"

Passing his hand through his hair, Cloud stared down his tumbler.

"It doesn't make sense. He acted like he was bringing back Sephiroth and instead he Summoned a monster, apparently fueling the whole deal with his own body. The being then runs away for no discernible explanation. I mean, something's very, very wrong. The very fact nobody got hurt proves it."

"What do ya mean, blondie?"

"I mean this. If Kadaj had sacrificed himself, it would be only because he apparently was ready to bring back Sephiroth. But instead, he called a very powerful monster, even worse than Bahamut SIN, and instead of laying waste to the whole of the city, just scampers and leaves without doing anything. To top it off, he fades from the radar and isn't seen since. What is his motivation? He isn't attacking, he isn't defending. Most worrisome, why would he sacrifice his body to call the monster when he can Summon huge monsters without trouble?"

All stood silent for a minute.

"All of this, takes us where?"

"Nowhere. It's all against everything we thought we knew about Kadaj. One, he is now still inside that monster, and just ready to strike at any outpost he wants. Two, he just isn't doing anything at all, which really doesn't sound like Kadaj at all. Three, why spare Nibelheim when Yuffie was weak, you were sleeping and the city was ill-defended?"

BZZT! BZZT!

"Sorry, it's mine. Hello?"

_"Cloud?"_

"Vincent? Where the hell are you?"

_"In Costa del Sol. Cloud... __I fear there's something horrible afoot... there was this young lady and..."_

"Yes, I know. Blonde, blue eyes, claimed to be your adopted daughter?"

The other phone was silent for what seemed to be an eternity.

_"Cloud? Did you, perchance, direct her to me?"_

"I sent her to Nibelheim. I thought she might run into you here."

_"You're in Nibelheim now?"_

"You haven't heard? There was an incident with Kadaj and..."

_"Yes, yes. But listen to me, Cloud, I believe that, while not my daughter, she has very good reasons to believe I'm her father."_

"Meaning?"

_"Let's just say her father and I are more alike you can imagine, okay? But that's not the point. She died, Cloud, without speaking to me, and her remains were sent to Shinra Edge HQ."_

"Uh? Dead? Geez, Vince, I-I'm sorry... How did it happen?"

_"...nevermind. Just now, I heard there's a massive disturbance in there. Bad enough to warrant the use of a piece of heavy artillery."_

"Shit. Let me call Tifa."

_"That's the point. Tifa's in lockdown along with Tseng inside the biohazard barriers. Red and Cait picked up Denzel and Marlene, both on the verge of freaking out, claiming they had seen Loz entering the building."_

"WHAT?"

_"On the more positive note, it seems the barriers were open and that both seemed to leave unharmed. I'm just hearing this through the WRO channel... Just let me adjust this thing..."_

The cell on the other side fell with a dull clack.

"Vince? Vincent, you there?"

He was only greeted by more silence.

"Vince?"

A hand picked up the cell on Costa del Sol.

_"Eh? Cloud?"_

"Cid? Where's Vince?"

_"Beats me. He was just here, lissening to the WRO transmissions on Edge, then freaks out and runs outta the room like a bat outta hell."_

"What's going on? Can you hear anything?"

_"Teef and the Turk are out. And it seems like somebody else is leaving, too. Handcuffed. Covered in a tarp thing. Civvies cleared... this stinks of classic Shinra mop-up operation..."_

* * *

Outside the Edge Shinra base, Seras, covered in the largest piece of clothing she could find, marched obediently to wherever the Turks led her, content for the moment to obey to avoid any more conflict. Tseng silently ordered the others to lead her away before Reno arrived with his gung-ho antics. She was promptly loaded into a black convertible, which shot off in the general direction of Healen Lodge. Staring into the distance as the car got lost in the horizon, Tifa asked Tseng:

"What will happen to her?"

"Not sure. The eggheads won't touch her, I assure you. She showed me... us... too much in there. Incidentally, a bit of discretion is indicated on your side as well."

Tifa shot him a look.

"I'm not a motormouth. Right now, I'm more concerned about Marlene and Denzel. But if I hear she's being studied..."

"Please... she's _allowing_ us to grace her with our hospitality, all the while _graciously _explaining her body to us, with the understanding we're _nothing_ but gnats to her. Would you dare offend somebody while being in that position?"

"True... but... wouldn't it have been better... if she had told us all from the very start?"

"No. She's a security agent. Inexperienced, perhaps, but she understands that some knowledge is on a strictly need-to-know basis. Which I assume will be needed now she holds two Remnants captive within herself."

"And what are you going to do about the other woman? Sabbath?"

"Not going to force that issue. But I promise you this. Those prophecies are not going to be fulfilled. Not one of them."

"For all our sakes, so I hope..."


	9. A Bit of Explaining

People... I'm, again, disappointed.

Let me state it this way. This li'l adventure in Gaia I can make out off the top off mah' noggin. Figuring out how to shaft Hellsing characters in the roles of the Major Arcana without typecasting them is awfully hard. So, now I've got the niiiice reviews each time I spout out the utter nonsense that is _On Gunslingers_, now I'mma extending my ambition towards _Arcana_.

Review, please. And be more generous with poor old _Arcana_. You dinnae know how important it is fer me.

I know I'm taking too long in setting up the scenario. It's because once this gets rolling next chapter, I won't be able to stop at all.

Oh, and following next chapter, this thing's moving to Crossovers. Shoulda have done it a while ago, I know.

* * *

Healen Lodge was supposed to be a hospital, if Seras understood correctly.

So she wondered exactly why she was dining something that was tantamount to caviar with silver cutlery.

Granted, it looked a little damaged here and there, but it _was _silver cutlery.

Rufus Shinra merely cocked his head and asked her:

"Is everything all right, Miss Victoria?"

"Mmm? Oh, yes, mister Shinra. Quite."

"Now, let me just get this straight... this disease, syndrome... how much danger does it pose to the good citizens of Gaia?"

She tried to hide in deeper in her seat, uncomfortably shrugging.

"Very little unless something horrible happened."

"Something like the Nibelheim incident with you and Kadaj, I take it?"

"...yes. Something like that."

Rufus merely nodded in a sagely gesture.

"You'll understand that with two Remnants of Sephiroth now... incapacitated, the third is more than likely to come around and find a way to fight you again. Consider the fact it may be necessary to... erm, how to state this? Alienate, that's the word. Alienate him, permanently, from the Black Lifestream."

"I'm not sure, mister Shinra. I'm already having difficulties dealing with Kadaj and Loz. They... they are hard souls, it's a lot more difficult to draw power from them, you see."

"Quite. I understand they are difficult to handle and I'm not going to pressure you into any sort of confrontation. After all, you are my guest, now. I merely want to reiterate that, excellent at their jobs as my Turks are, even a determined Remnant could triumph over them. With that in mind, I want to give this back to you."

With these words, he gestured for Rude to come into the room and deposit a heavy packet in front of her. Unwrapping it, she found her Jackal, just as she had lost it in Nibelheim.

"A token of my appreciation and that I'm willing to trust you."

"Th-thanks!"

"Oh, and Rude... what happened to our weapon? Did it see use?"

"Not for the moment, sir. Moved here in preparation. WRO transmissions are being monitored and all key installations are on full alert. We're ready to move as you command, sir."

"Excellent. Now, Miss Victoria. I'm afraid I must touch a rather sensitive subject. Can we talk about this woman? What's her name, Rude? Sabbath?"

* * *

Deep below, something very much like a heartbeat pulsed across the entire world.

And as that heartbeat continued, images floated around the pulsing liquid.

One of those images was of a neverending meadow covered in flowers. And the occasional tree.

"Did you feel that?"

"Mmm? Whut? Feel what?"

"A shiver. Like the Planet shuddered when Jenova first landed here."

"...You telling me there's a second Jenova running aroung here?"

"It's not a second Jenova. But it could be so many things..."

"Any of those good?"

"Would I be worried if that was the case?"

"Damn. Y'know, it _is _unfair how much Cloudy boy and everybody out there have to work overtime just to keep us all safe right here. I feel kinda guilty for just lounging around here and not being able to do a damn thing to help him from here."

"We all do what we can. For whatever it's worth. Hoping it's worth it in the end."

* * *

Cid, fighting to clear his head after his earlier binge, had left a message on Shera's answering machine and hoped she would believe his best friend had now gone nuts and tried to pursue a woman he had seen melt in his arms across an ocean and half a continent just for a grainy message he might have very well misunderstood. And to top all of that, when asked to explain he merely waved off all objections, referring to the dame in question as the "daughter of the Dragon".

He was going to kill Vincent. Or at least he was going to demand a couple of beers on his tab. And an explanation. Explanations were good.

Meanwhile, he was calling Cloud. Guy deserved to know what was going on.

...rrright after he found exactly how Vincent planned to cross the ocean.

* * *

Elsewhere, Vincent was in the hold of a cold, damp carrier heading straight for Junon. Making some quick calculations with his watch, he took out his cell phone, handily retrieved with a bare explanation to Cid, and mentally prepared for a verbal lashing when he called Tifa at what had to be around four o' clock in the morning, standard Edge time.

"Tifa?"

_"...Vincent?"_

"I have a question. Where was the girl taken?"

_"...you know I'm not happy with this, do you?"_

"Let me put it this way. That girl has the potential to drink every drop of life this world has ever produced. From Jenova to the Lifestream. And the only things stopping her from doing so are that she has absolutely no reason or desire for doing so _yet_, something I believe she already amply demonstrated by not siphoning the Lifestream the moment she visited the Nibelheim area. I intend that status quo to remain untouched."

_"Before I ask... how do _you_ know about her?"_

"Because I met her father. Once. And believe me, neither of us wants somebody so powerful and so insane in Gaia. So I better sort things with her before Sephiroth completes whatever resurrection plan he's thinking about this time and it all blows in our faces."

_"Granted. But you were once a Turk as well. Shouldn't you know where she is? "_

"Oh, I have my ideas. But you _know_. And I don't care if the entire Shinra Army is shielding her; I have to meet her at all costs."

_"...fine. This one's on your head, Valentine. She's in Healen."_

* * *

"Sabbath is something I don't quite understand. And quite frankly I'm not totally sure I'd even want to understand her at all. I mean, she's perfectly okay with wanton violence. She doesn't care about anything, if I get her, just... mindless destruction, like it's all it matters. And suffering, of course. From what I heard she said, I mean, she's insane to the degree she would pull out the legs and wings off a dragonfly and leave it to be eaten by ants just to revel in the suffering she's causing."

"...fine. And about the prophecies?"

"Not sure about that either. I have an ability, a third eye, that lets me dispel illusions and see stuff real up close, but I have never heard of a vampire like me having such precognitive powers. Besides - sadist. Wouldn't rule out the possibility she was just yanking your chain."

Rufus nodded as Rude produced a thin leather binder, which he pushed in Seras' direction.

"Good. Now, as a security agent, I want you to examine this data. It's basic information on the biology of Jenova, the Lifestreams, Sephiroth, and Shinra's own dealings. If possible, my team would be delighted to have your personal opinion on how your organizaton would deal with him. Can I be assured of your cooperation?"

"Sure. As long as whatever I say can be shared between all anti-Jenova groups."

"As you say. My primary concern is with the welfare of the world. And incidentally, I know I will probably be rebuffed, but I also want to understand how feasible it would be to use your genetic material as primer against Jenova-based creatures."

"Oh, sure. It could be done, if you don't mind the resulting creations overwhelming the originals and deciding they are much fitter to take over the world."

"...abandoning that line of thought..."

* * *

In another continent, a thin man in a leather jumpsuit was asking himself how he was going to reach Edge. Particularly since reaching Rocket Town was impossible with his black sheep brother currrently detached with his friends in Nibelheim, the airship having left Cosmo and nothing else in between.

Screw it all, he was Summoning a monster and see how far it could take him before dying of exhaustion.

It might be even considered a valuable scientific experiment, he snickered. It would make for a suitably morbid joke for his brothers.

But he had little time to lose. With any luck, the monster would be able to take him to the other side of the continent in eight hours.

* * *

-And finally, I want to abuse of your kindness once more. I need to know the reaction of your body to a special water we have around here. Sort of a natural defense against Jenova.

Gesturing again, he had Rude serve in a thin, elongated platter a vase of the waters of the church of Sector 5. Somewhat reluctantly, Seras accepted a needle. A small puncture later, the small drop she had produced was dropped into the water.

There were some bubbles at first.

Then the water started boiling, violently.

Hissing, the platter intensely heated up as the liquid on it remained bubbling and steaming.

Moments later, it stopped.

Observing the effects, Rufus and Rude stared at the water. What were once crystal-clear waters of life had been heavily muddied and no longer shone. Rufus covered his face with his palm and had Rude carry out the platter.

"So... I suppose Holy magic would happen to explain that?"

"In strong concentrations, yes..."

"Rude. Please have that water analyzed and tested. See if it's still effective against Jenova cells. And, Miss Victoria, to conclude tonight's little reunion, I need to ask this. Can you please provide me with the name of your employer and the organization you are a part of?"

"That data would be absolutely meaningless. You wouldn't know either."

"Unfortunately that's not for you to decide. So I must insist."

Seras mentally facepalmed.

"All right, then. I serve Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and her Hellsing Organization."

"Excellent. How do you contact her?"

And Seras was left scrambling for an explanation. She desperately leaped at the chance they might have picked something besides the gun in Nibelheim.

"I had a tracer and communicator with me. I lost it in Nibelheim and haven't seen it since. Perhaps the Turks saw it?"

Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"No. But there are currently several groups of WRO officers in Nibelheim, most likely scrambling to explain your little escapade. Shall I contact them and ask them to retrieve that tracer?"

"If you please. It's a small elongated white thing. It has a series of buttons under the lid."

"Perfect. Then I assume we have finished here for tonight. I offer you for the moment my hospitality."

"Thanks. Much appreciated."

* * *

Seras, alone, privately mused how similar Rufus Shinra and Sir Integra were. Both were well-intentioned extremists seeking to better the world in their own way. Though, in hindsight, she would have more likely pressed for more information that Rufus. Then again, he might have had bad experiences when dealing with horribly overpowered enemies he had no immediate way of defeating. Hell, Sir Integra would have pretty much done the exact same things in Rufus' situation. Sighing, she realized she would easily fit the part of the Turks in her own world. That, of course, begat the question of exactly which role her master filled. She dismissed such concerns and tried to sleep and return to the Red Land to check on the new arrival and then finally rest.

And as she closed her eyes, everything changed.

Opening her eyes in the Land, a foot-tapping, arms-crossed Pip greeted her.

"Would it be too much to ask of you to stop sending these psycho clowns this way?"

Seras sweatdropped as Pip moved in to hug her.

"...Sorry. They just keep on coming!"

After a moment of solitude in the immense pillar of the Land, Seras asked:

"How is everybody dealing with the guy?"

"Nobody has the patience to hold him down and explain the rules like we're a group of bloody police officers reading the idiot his rights like we're on a freaking cop movie, Police Girl. So between everybody we repeated that stunt. Y'know, how we dealt with the wolf-octopus-monster things?"

"The Creepers? Sure. Holding him down and pinning him in place?"

"Atta girl. That's the ticket. Gave us a hell of a fight. Between the blackness of earlier (mind you, how did you get killed again, so fast?) and the guy, we were quite close to losing."

"Can I talk to him? And sorry, it's not like I could have avoided getting killed. Well, technically, I could, but... urrr! You-you know what I'm talking about!2

"Yah, yah. I'm just a bastard who likes to play with ya. C'mon, the werewolf's having his fun with those two and he's not leaving any for later."

"Oh! Hey! I just realized, I didn't ask you! How is it that you know when... em.. when I die?"

Pip's visage fell a bit at that question, and he gestured all around him, showing her a wide panorama of the Red Land as they kept walking.

"Everywhere where you look around here is red. Red sky, red ground. We only add a bit of color. But when you die, the redness goes, and it's us alone against a landscape of endless black. Weird and creepy like a nightmare and just as inescapable. And to add to the mindf''ck, there's this background noise of sorts. Nobody knows what it is. Some of us hear flutes, or pipes. Some hear something like a laugh. And we can't move. Or think. Cause the blackness is everywhere. And it... it eats you. We haven't been in there for long, ever, but for whatever God you recognize's sake, don't ever die on purpose. Place is superlative when speaking of cold pain and boredom. Like you eventually want to be eaten just to escape."

Seras stopped for a second, again cursed Alucard for not being able to be there to explain the subtle nuances of vampire life to her.

And she privately swore to find him and lock him in a room until she could get real answers out of him in due time. Hopefully before she had time to get used to it all.

"Got it."

* * *

And so, the cargo ship used to ferry across the ocean finally docked in Junon. Dawn was already rising.

Vincent merely stepped out of his place in the hold and proceeded to leave the boat.

Taking out his wallet, he handed the compulsory bribes to the usual people and asked for transport to Healen.


	10. The Beginning of the End

I own nothing. I make no money.

I sincerely hope you are satisfied and that you review more abundantly in the two stories I have given unto you today than as of late. Cheapskates.

The exceptions are out there, and unto them I sing my praises.

Everybody else... I'm watchin'. Read. Review. Repeat.

* * *

In the endless expanse of blackness called the Black Land, Sabbath did something she had never done. Focusing, she forcibly managed to drag one of the souls from the scarlet demesne belonging to Seras into her own empty, dark world. She, privately smiling and barely restraining her cackles, knew Seras would not understand. All the more fun for her.

In a matter of seconds, Loz materialized before her. His face, even discounting the marks of the brutal pummeling administered upon him by the loyal souls of the Red Land, was bathed in his tears, and he kept bawling and hissing.

_"Loz. Loooz. Hee. What an ugly name. Whatcha keeps ya crying, little, useless mama's boy? Heehehe. I know. Let's play, shall we?"_

Loz managed to clench his fist and his teeth, and threw a punch directly at Sabbath's nose, aiming to drive her nasal bones into her brain with a single move.

Sabbath took the punch in. She didn't even give him the pleasure of pretending like the punch had had an effect at all. Just for kicks, she grabbed his fist and proceeded to force it open, wherein she started singing again.

_"This little piggy went to the market!"_

With a swift twist, Loz screamed in agony as his finger got broken.

_"This little piggy stayed at home!"_

Off went another finger. Loz screeched again. Sabbath ignored him.

_"This little piggy had roast beef!"_

_Crack._ Loz, biting in his lower lip to the point of bleeding, again was crying.

_"Poor little useless Remnant. Can't even finish a rhyme. Oh, well. Where was I? Oh, yes. This little piggy had none!"_

And off went the last of Loz's fingers. Sabbath then pulled apart his thumb.

_"And this little piggy... he, he went wee, wee, wee... all the way home."_

Punching Loz in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him, Sabbath kicked him far away into the neverending darkness, shunting him into the Red Land as she asked, sneering:

_"Are you happy, little piggy? Your home is coming, coming for you..."_

* * *

It proved to be an unduly tiresome and almost useless work of haggling on Vincent's part, but ultimately he managed to find space in the first flight to Edge. While it was indeed a mission pivotal for the safety of the Planet, he kept repeating like a mantra:

"I'm still in time. And Lifestream help whoever tries to stop me."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside one of Healen's basements, Seras awoke. Making her way outside while being joined by Elena in her way out of the room, the gray sky and the cold winds indicated the heavy rainfall expected for the area. Soon enough they were joined by Tseng, and Seras made a request. Tseng nodded, consulted with his cell, and informed her she was promptly cleared for the audience she requested.

Soon enough, Rufus Shinra was sitting next to her as she stared at the lush, verdant surrounding the house of healing. Both remained silent, hearing the dull roar of water in the distance.

"You know I can't stay here, do ya?"

"It was the closest Shinra installation and I wanted to make sure you knew it was generally unsafe as a potential hideout for long."

"You expected me to realize it and ask for the transfer myself, then. Where is it possible for me to wait?"

"I would propose the coastal city of Junon. It is home to a large Shinra army base and it is very heavily defended. It has suffered previous attacks and it is the ideal place to hold out while Yazoo comes. Something I assume you know it is inevitable now. From the conversation we held last night, he's assuming Shinra has his brothers and will hesitate at nothing to lash back. Therefore, I ask of you to allow for a trap to be set with you as the bait."

"Anything that keeps that madman from hurting anybody else is welcome in my book. As long as I'm kept out of the water."

"Fair enough. I will make arrangements for you to meet Reeve Tuesti as well, if you don't mind. He's the leader of the WRO, the leading organization in the restoration of the damage wrought by Sephiroth and the wars to this planet. He might come as somewhat of a paper pusher, but he's a fussy and precise administrator and if the help of the WRO is needed we might have no better choice than to show him exactly what game we're playing from the start before the mud starts flying. Is that a problem for you?"

"Is he more unreasonable than, say, you?"

"I would not define him in those terms."

"Then it is agreed. Arrange what you must, mister Shinra. For the moment, even though I know perfectly well you probably arranged it that way... I'm better off trusting you."

* * *

In the middle of the ocean, Yazoo quietly sang to himself, a tuneless song that merely helped him pass the time and stave off boredom as he approached ever so closely to Junon. After all, he had run out of bits and pieces to feed to the fish. And he listlessly wondered whether keeping the fishboat's crew alive would have helped him in any way to cross the sea faster. Deciding he had taken the right path, he focused on running the engines fast enough. While the Summon had managed to run until it had reached the middle of the ocean, it had failed rather spectacularly and fallen down, straight into the dark blue waters. Luckily, the fishboat had appeared, and out of something resembling compassion, Yazoo's first action upon stepping on the boat was to whip out Velvet Nightmare and put the Summon out of its misery.

After that, well... things got messy. Lucky there was a group of Adamantai nearby, happy to gobble up the bits and pieces he threw overboard. With just a quick change in the travel computer, the boat was speeding towards Junon faster than Yazoo had expected. With any luck, he would be there at sundown.

"I won't let you down, my brothers..."

* * *

In Nibelheim, meanwhile, Cloud and company had received the inform about the white transmitter, and were cautioned - they were not to play around with it and they were to take it immediately to Edge as soon as they found it. They had also been warned it was a piece of technology not meant to be toyed with.

Which made it a shame that it was the person most likely to disobey said orders the one who actually found the device. And promptly ignored them by flipping the lid open.

A green display simply kept pointing with an arrow of some sort. Following the trail dictated by the machine, the ninja lightly whistled.

"Something tells me I shouldn't be surprised..."

Making her way into the Shinra Mansion, she lost her way a few times as she realized the true place she was being directed at. Ultimately, she found again her way into the descending spiral staircase and into the dark tunnel. This time, though, she had made it a point to add a small penlight to her standard thief gear. And thus she found how the thing pointed to one thing, and one thing only - Vincent's coffin.

She left the building with a new puzzle and headed out to find Cloud and Barret.

Understandably, she was given a lecture on how she shouldn't play with technology she didn't even comprehend.

"You know Reeve's going to lecture you again just for the hell of it?"

"Aw, c'mon, it's not like I went around moving settings! I just wanted to see what it transmitted!"

"And...?"

"It only points to Vincent's crypt and coffin. Why somebody would want to build something specially to track down mister I-Need-Prozac is beyond me when he's got a cell."

Cloud merely closed his eyes and tried to fit all pieces of the puzzle together. He hadn't much luck and he had to make an announcement to his friends.

"Alright. I got a call a while ago. Now we have this, Reeve wants us to move to Junon and meet with him, Red and Rufus."

"Eh, what's Shinra got to do with all of this bloody mess?"

"Can't hurt to ask, can it? They've already sent the Shera to Cid. He should be here within the hour, so I suggest we get ready."

* * *

As they spoke, the Turk helicopter was already depositing the Shinra delegation to the Junon base. At the same time, the WRO detachment taking their leader and his friend to meet up with the Shinra spokesmen started deploying. Both sides, while cooperating, had little reason to be friendly with each other and a history of enmities. Still, everybody behaved as their leaders expected. It was in everybody's best interests, of course.

One way or another, everybody got comfortably placed in a conference room. The Turks, Seras, Rufus, Reeve, and Red.

And so, everybody looked up when Rufus started talking. Seras in particular also noted the man could be as much of a showman as the Major himself.

"Good evening, gentlemen of the WRO. I trust everything is in order in Edge?"

"Can we dispense these meaningless banter, mister Shinra? Right now, we just want an explanation to the most recent Nibelheim incident, which I was informed Shinra possessed. Also, I believe you can also explain the disappearance of a Remnant of Sephiroth attacking a Shinra complex? And who is this young woman and why is she here?"

Rufus started to open his mouth, but Seras merely raised her hand. Rufus understood, backed down and gave her the word.

"My name is Seras Victoria. I serve the House of Hellsing as one of their specialized agents, currently tasked with finding a former member of the organization and taking him back to the Hellsing HQ after he was... forcefully evicted from the premises in an attack some time ago. I have reason to believe this man is the one you know as Vincent Valentine."

"Understood. And now, if we could talk about the relevance to this in the current situation..."

Seras looked at Rufus, who reluctantly nodded for her to go on.

"I spoke to one of the Turks to begin with. She pointed me to Cloud Strife as someone likely to know mister Valentine's whereabouts. He, in turn, told me Nibelheim was where I was most likely to find him. So, I went to Nibelheim and tried to find Valentine. I failed. I was then attacked by a local thief and... incapacitated. Then the Remnant... Kadaj, was it? showed up. I neutralized him then, but my abilities went out of control, and, well, to be honest, I almost went on a rampage. Instead I ended up heading to Rocket Town."

Reeve nodded. Seras knew the man was trying to understand, but clearly was having trouble believing somebody like her could stand up against Kadaj.

"You will forgive me if I feel disinclined to believe you are able to manhandle a Remnant, Miss Victoria. Can you tell me the truth?"

"Reeve, let me assure you, Miss Victoria possesses a great power. Greater than any Shinra agent, quite possibly with the potential to become much more than Sephiroth himself."

Reeve merely nodded.

"Miss Victoria... It appears mister Tuesti does not believe you... do you mind if I play the video?"

She groaned when she noticed she was, essentially, assuming the role of second fiddle to Rufus. And she cursed Integra. It seemed she was too accustomed to the role of a follower.

* * *

Yazoo, meanwhile, scanned radio frequencies. he wasn't sure he did it to avoid suspicion if the fishing crew were called, because he wanted information or just because he was bored out of his mind in the calm sea. After a while of debating with himself, he reached the conclusion he was bored. He was somwehat closer to Junon, but that did not help him alleviate the weight of the loneliness of the journey while the sun was still so high.

He wished Loz was there. Just to torture him a bit and see him cry those big, fat crocodile tears of his.

_"This is a message paid by Shinra, Incorporated. Transmitted through all common frequencies. We wish to inform the transfer of highly dangerous terrorists to Junon Military Base. Please, ensure your cooperation with all Shinra convoys in your path. With the previous anti-Shinra sentiment still in the memory of many of our listeners, we sincerely ask you to help us in this one venture."_

"Hmm. Junon, eh? All right. I suppose it's a fair gamble."

So he pushed the engines to their full capacity with a smile. Those Shinra fools were so damned easy.

* * *

Some time after sundown that day, the huge silvery airship landed on Edge's main airport. Cloud, Yuffie, Cid and Barret walked down the ramp, and were duly met by a representative. The overweight man greeted them, and asked them to follow him.

"I believe you know a certain mister Vincent Valentine?"

"Vince? He's here?"

"Yes. He was demanding a transport to Healen all morning, and now he comes here ranting about the unfairness of Destiny and how he needs to return to Junon _ipso facto."_

"Has he been... violent?"

"Violent? No. Borderline so, yes. But so far he's kept his cool."

"All right. Where is he? Perhaps the WRO can arrange something to take him to Junon. It's only, what, two hours away?"

Led through the small maze of the airport, Cloud and company eventually reached the reservations room.

"Vince, ya tosser. Ye're a sight for sore eyes."

Cid wasn't exaggerating, Cloud knew. With his new suit crumpled from sleeping in the hold of a cold delivery ship, bags under his eyes, his new amber glasses folded in his pocket and the lower, raspier voice he had developed by screaming all day long, Vincent was, to put it lightly, not in the best of moods.

"Vince? You okay?"

Sighing resignedly, Valentine forced himself to answer out of politeness.

"No. Not today. I need to get to Junon-fast."

"All right..."

"Ah, Vincent! There you are!"

The breathless head of the WRO barreled into the room, clearly agitated and pale-faced.

"The Shinra... in Junon! They have... a monster!"

Red XIII, the lupine confidante and friend of Reeve, took advantage of his distraction, and pounced on him. With Reeve pinned to the floor, Red growled:

"I know whatever the lady was, Reeve, it was all but natural. But we can't compromise ourselves by acting too rashly! You saw what she was capable of! Now, just breathe. Calmly."

Reeve, thus threatened, collected himself after a fashion and corrected his stance. As Red moved to allow him to rise, Vincent coughed.

"Reeve, do you mind borrowing me your cell phone for a second? Oh, and your helicopter?"

"We were going to Junon anyway after restocking the Shera. You're welcome to join us."

* * *

In one of the lower level balconies of the Junon base, Seras Victoria sat on a simple folding chair, staring at the sea, waiting for the impending confrontation. After quick enquiries in the Red Land, she had been informed of Loz's reappearance and how he had been found, terrified and sobbing, whispering of the terrible, terrible woman of the rhymes. Connecting the dots wasn't that hard. The three of them were essentially zealots created from the remains of a warrior of this world created by the inclusion of alien genetic material into human tissue.

Lord have mercy on her. That phrase almost had made sense.

As she nursed one of the glasses before her, she approvingly noted the blood did not taste any different than in her homeworld. Steps approached, and she turned to face her companion in the balcony. Rufus Shinra merely nodded, and Reno hauled another folding chair next to Seras, and promptly vanished at Rufus' command. Sitting loftily, Rufus asked:

"May I ask a question, Miss Victoria?"

She shrugged.

"Guess so."

"I hear you had two rather unusual requests for the Turks. I see you had them granted?"

"Yes. Say, it's a nice set of glasses you have here."

"Indeed. Dare I ask the reason you asked such unusual beverages?"

"For starters, blood powers me up, as it is a key component of Life itself. In the same vein, Mako does the exact same thing, being the lifeblood of Gaia itself."

"I understand. But water? And of such an unusual variety?"

"It's a work in progress."

"I'm not afraid to say I don't get it."

"Ummm... boss?"

"Yes, Reno?"

"We have a phone call, for... our guest in here."

"Who's calling?"

"Valentine. And, we have a bit of a disturbance at sea, sir. If you could just come here for a bit and tell us what you think..."

"Damn. Alright. Get Miss Victoria connection. There's a phone over there, next to the elevator."

"Alright. But there might be a bit of interference."

* * *

In the depths, the Will hissed. The Third had apparently found a trail. A deliberately obvious one, as both of them suspected. But sighing, he repeated to himself - no risk, no reward.

And anyway, with the contingency plan in place, everything would be different this time...

* * *

In the poorest section of Junon, a small fishing boat crashed. Its lone occupant leaped out before the crash, and shot without remorse or hesitation the guard protecting the entrance to Junon's elite area. The sap died without even knowing it. Restraining his laughter, Yazoo punched the button to open the doorway to the upper side, smiling when it all went so perfectly well. As the elevator rose, he asked himself whether he should make the others suffer a bit more.

As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, he found himself facing a woman in black clothes, with a phone connected to the wall in one hand and a glass of water in the other. With her back turned to him. He privately snickered, and loaded Velvet Nightmare as she kept yammering to the phone.

"Master? Master!"

"..._daughter of the drag_..."

"This is no time to play around, Master! Where are you? Sir Integra wants you!"

"..._stay in Junon! I'll go get you! I'm on my way already! Wait for..."_

BLAM!

Seras stared, uncomprehending, at the destroyed wall phone. And her expression darkened as she crushed the earpiece.

"Yazoo, I take it?"

Slinking out of the shadows, said Remnant approached her with a long, devious smile.

"Oooh. So the lady knows me."

"I already know of you. So, can we skip the meet and greet phase?"

Stretching like a cat, never ceasing to smile, Yazoo said, in an almost coy tone:

"Ummm. But it's my favorite part!"

"As you wish. Meet your death."

So she hurled the glass full of sparkling water at him.

He shot it in midair, and much of the water ended up merely sliding off his leather getup, but there was enough to touch his bare skin to understand it was no normal water.

"That cursed water! Oh, you've gotten me angry, you bitch!"

And with that, Seras remade the sword. Yazoo prepared again his gun.

"One of us is gonna die, innit?"

"Uh-huh. Question is, will you manage to live long enough to amuse me?"

"Come and find out, you insane killer!"


	11. Army of Shadows

'Allo. Want more of this? I'll take reviews, and reviews only. Favs and notices are appreciated but frankly come as chump change.

Well, that cleared out of the way, I reiterate I own nothing. Therefore, this text has absoluely nothing that can be traced back to the original owners save for the characters themselves.

As a matter of intellectual curiosity for the interested, I am going to tell you a bit more about Sabbath. You cannot imagine who I chose as... inspiration for her. I leave you with that tiny challenge. We'll discuss the reward if you manage to nail down that person. Oh, and her last taunt? Anybody remember that one? No prize for that one, but, doesn't it bring memories?

Read. Review. Revel in the winter of your discomfort.

* * *

Hissing angrily before the screens before him, Rufus was handed his double-barreled shotgun, a tactical vest and an ammo belt. He howled:

"Status report!"

Reno, beside him, responded:

"The beauty and the beast are fighting in the outmost fortress walls. At this rate the defensive structure will be compromised; permission to engage."

Rufus' expression did not waver.

"Approved. Get the rest of the Turks and get the bastard into the Reactor tunnels if capture's not an option."

"The decomissioned ones or the ones we can vaporize him in?"

Shooting him a glare, Rufus grunted:

"Get him to the decomissioned core and let her do her thing. Nobody gets hurt, you heard me, Reno? No lunacies unless necessary!"

* * *

And in the Black Land, Sabbath howled with laughter as she prepared.

Three prophecies. Three tiny, horrific glimpses of the future.

_"Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie. Kissed all the girls and made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away!"_

And she smiled in the dark. Time to prove she did not make idle threats. Prophecies. Whatever.

* * *

Outside, the fight against Yazoo was not going as Seras originally planned.

For starters, the idiot was not falling for the same idiotic tricks his brothers had stumbled upon like amateurs. Inwardly, she wondered if she would have been better off repeating what she had done in a half-mindless staggering of the failed regeneration earlier instead of openly provoking him with a shot of highly toxic magic water. Che sera, sera, she bitterly lamented as she kicked off Velvet Nightmare off Yazoo's hand, hopefully breaking his wrist as well. She, biting her lip, dared to hope for a bit she did not need to kill and absorb this one. Too much killing. She grew again sick at the sight of blood and the smell, intoxicating as it was, also started to become purely nauseating. Not to mention the fighting. Supremely easy to kill. Infinitely hard to keep the opponent alive.

Not the moment to think of that!

Velvet Nightmare was fired at her own wrist, and a fan kick slammed her against the nearest wall. Yazoo grabbed her by her hair and tried to slam her head against the concrete wall. Hissing, she elbowed him - which barely stopped the collision. Did nothing to stop him from taking his gun and firing. Thinking fast, she had created a shield with the shadow arm. Breathing hard, she used her free hand to grab a nearby chair and lob it in Yazoo's general direction. The grunting zealot had managed to fire that gun of his just in time and the chair had been hit in midair, essentially destroying it.

"Aren't you special? Hafta admit, you're a really good dance partner, girlie, but if you don't mind, I came to see mister Shinra himself. Mind to make an appointment, for today?"

BANG!

As the blood started seeping from Yazoo's hand and he dropped his gun, the mocking voice of the person he had once tortured chimed in:

"Sorry, he has no time to waste with you. Care to leave a message?"

"Huh?"

Too late, Yazoo turned to face two of the four Turks and two identical lasers converging in his chest. Surprised, mortified and humiliated, all at the same time, he understood he was not in a position to confront the full force of the three trained combat professionals. Let Loz and Kadaj rot a bit to let them understand the Shinra worms were not to be considered bugs any more. Not after their first disastrous attempt to resurrect their elder brother. If they were foolish enough to require a reminder of that teensy little fact, then they deserved a bit of electrical tinkering, judiciously applied, and, perhaps, one or two chemical cocktails. Turning around and making a sprint for the outside balcony, Yazoo fled.

"Want to let him go?"

"Hell, no. Men, open fire!"

With a well-placed salvo of bullets, Yazoo was forced far away from the sea-battered balcony into the main body of the Junon military center, the main building that had once served as the foundations of the Shinra superweapon known as the Sister Ray. Yazoo, it seemed, finally seemed to start understanding how horrifically outclassed he was.

* * *

The massive airship known as the Shera was already in liftoff procedures from Junon. As it rose and shuttled off, the members of the old group who had defeated Sephiroth were already massing in the main command deck. Chairs had been spread near the central table, and Cid had had the foresight to have the full world map set and have the most recent events marked and duly dated. So there were they, huddling over the map and assembling a story. A story of how a strange traveler had burst into their lives with a tale too fantastic to be true, and a trio of monstruous offenders rising again from the dead to try to complete their mission. First, her first appearance on Edge. Her travel by airship to Cosmo. Her journey to Nibelheim. The monstrous power she unleashed there. Her mysterious death in Costa del Sol, verified by two of their number. Next, the horrific resurrection in Edge. And from there to Junon.

"This is insane. She can revive from the dead. She can control powers we have no idea of. She's already beaten - well, eaten, technically... two Remnants... and you say her father was even more powerful?"

Vincent Valentine sighed. How many times had he to repeat the same drilling routine until it finally sunk in?

"I only met him briefly. But consider. He has the ability to walk through the walls of dreams and reality as if he crossed through a curtain of water. The dead aura surrounding him would have cowed Jenova into submission. And the daughter has the potential to dwarf him. It is imperative we retain her on the side of humanity and convince her to join our fight against Sephiroth. From what Reeve and Red tell us, however, she is more likely to stick around with the Shinra operatives. Probably because she seems to have much more in common with them than with us. If at all possible, I recommend we do not stoke her anger with useless rage against Shinra's past misdemeanors."

"I agree. Hey, think she's hanging around the Turks?"

"Seems so."

"Well, dayaaamn. How are we s'posed to deal with someone like that?"

"We don't. We hear her, we make our stand known, and hope she is reasonable in her own demands."

Cloud, sadly, looked at his friends from a security camera as he passed in front of the ship's internal security room. He would join them soon, but first, there were things he had to be sure of. Frisking his pockets for his cell, he noted he had lost at least six calls - all from the same person.

Tifa was going to roast him alive and feed the pieces to a Tonberry horde. With a pained expression, he dialed the Seventh Heaven's number and awaited the impending lashing.

_"Hello?"_

"Tifa? It's me. Sorry I couldn't..."

_"Never mind that. You heard about the girl? Vincent's daughter?"_

"She's not actually his..."

_"Yes or no, Cloud Strife?"_

"Okay, yes. Yes, I have."

_"I talked to her with Tseng. She told us about her origin and her powers. Not much, but enough. "_

"Did she tell you anything about weaknesses?"

_"Deep water. Sunlight as a minor irritant and blocker to higher-level powers. Silver."_

"... fine. What do we do now?"

_"I was kinda hoping you could give me an answer to that, Savior of Gaia. For the moment, I just think I'll give you a recap of what she told me."_

* * *

And as Yazoo fought his way to the other end of the nave, he was promptly welcomed with a barrage of high-caliber rounds. Barely dodging it, he sprinted further down the length of the nave and managed to reach the closed elevator at the end. Faced with two angry Turks armed to the teeth and his shooting arm almost broken, he decided on the lesser evil and force the elevator doors open.

Down the elevator shaft were at least forty feet of blackness.

Yazoo almost had time to gulp. But he didn't, and without the luxury of the few seconds he desperately wished, he threw himself into the gaping maw, grab the elevator cord and hope his gloves and his hands could take the punishment for his own stupidity.

Down, down the darkness he went, pressing as hard as he could until a harsh pain indicated he'd hit the lift. With a stomp, he opened the grille leading to the lift proper and managed to drop down to the ungainly grey box itself. He wasted no time in punching the button to lead him as low as he could go.

* * *

"Tseng, Reno! Target in visual range! He's going for the decomissioned sub dockyards."

_"The ones Prez had sealed?"_

"The same. Congratulations, gents. The rat's trapped with no way out. Remember, prez wants him caught alive if at all possible."

* * *

Unfathomable depths below, the Will prepared and massed its power under Junon. With a few strong pushes in the right places, it had more than enough power to level Midgar at its toughest. Bitterly, he lamented he hadn't had this power level in his prior engagements. Quietly, he snorted. Back then his power hadn't been a fraction of what it was now, and he needed not such cheap tricks as Meteor to compound the new abilities he'd gained.

Like an oil spill, he would never be truly washed away.

The thought comforted him. One way or another, Gaia would be Hers.

* * *

Yazoo, after abandoning the elevator and blasting the controls, had walked out with some difficulty and surveyed his position. Breathing belaboredly, he realized that, whether he would acknowledge it or not, he had indeed suffered a lot of damage in the skirmishes with the girl and the Turks. Mostly the girl. Her elbowing attack had almost certainly cracked a rib at least. And he cursed and hissed and asked himself how a miserable human had achieved a level of power enough to stand against a true son of Jenova.

He had little time to meditate on that.

After all, five inch-thick concrete bulwarks and solid steel sealing the reactor core and the exit to open sea, respectively, virtually spoke for themselves.

And of course, there was the matter the apes seemed to have learnt to repair the elevator.

He was trapped.

For the first time since he erupted from a black glob of the Jenova-tainted Lifestream, he understood Loz's desire to cry. Forcing himself to work through the pain and the madness, he again grasped Velvet Nightmare and prepared to take the fight to the last level.

* * *

In the Black Lifestream, the Will picked on Yazoo's despair. Briefly peering into his mind, he did not fully understand the circumstances under which he had been nearly defeated.

On the other hand, it was precisely unknown circumstances that had forced its hand thusly.

Time to execute the plan.

* * *

With a ping, the elevator doors opened. Four Turks and a vampire walked out and targeted the rapidly breaking Yazoo.

The sight of a gun at your face is never a pleasant one. Least of all two revolvers, a shotgun, four handguns and a superpowered hand cannon.

And Yazoo burst out laughing. He was fighting them all wrong. A bullet lodged itself in his knee. Despite the blinding pain and how it would not end quickly, he just couldn't resist laughing a bit more, even if it was at his own expense.

"...funny, innit? I'm here, all...-he coughed to spit some blood-...all guns blazing... I'm not very smart, am I?"

Approaching Yazoo, and leaving the Turks at a distance as backup, Seras spat:

"Incredibly stupid would be a better expression."

"Righty...righty-ho!"

And grinning, he said:

"...so, see... I'm... I'm gonna fight smart..."

Velvet Nightmare got shot to pieces as he spoke, and his expression soured.

"No easy way out, pal. Orders are orders and you are wanted for extensive and extremely painful testing."

A low grumbling filled the chamber. All six exchanged uncomprehending looks.

The reinforced concrete of the dockyards was designed to withstand the brutal pressures of the mid-depth levels of water surrounding Junon. Not even that helped against the monstrous abilities even the Black Lifestream could fathom. After all, its "light" counterpart had once shattered Meteor itself with a single push. Why should anybody think its dark counterpart would be any weaker, or that a few walls and floors could prove an effective deterrent?

A few crisscrossed cracks started marking the start of it all. Black globs had started racing to the surface, and the groaning increased.

Seras only had time to open her mouth to warn them. The floor exploded with the force of a Semtex charge, all Hell broke loose, and nothing mattered anymore.

There was only the black, black rush, lost of Mako... she was drowning on Mako, drowning on blood...

Draw it in...

Her ears rang with laughter. Whether it was this monster... Sabbath's? or somebody else, she didn't know. She was in no position to care.

* * *

The Red Land trembled.

A distant din was heard from the reality's foundations, and soon it became an unbearable cacophony. The magics protecting the subdimensional domain were quickly overwhelmed as an immense amount of energy rushed in, swelling the place beyond any capabilities of containment it ever hoped to achieve. After all, the entire plane of existence was nothing more than a huge blood-red bubble sifting with its own power. Too much of it... and the entire bubble burst.

Loz and Kadaj tensed. They knew the power and they knew whose it was. And Loz understood the jeering of the terrible woman of the rhymes. Indeed, his home had come for him.

The Red Land broke. Gaping chasms shattered the plains, the mountains, the sky. Rent its every existence apart, everything swallowed by the Green.

The eternal green of the eyes of the ones blessed with Jenova's kiss.

* * *

The four Turks stared in abject horror as the gap before them widened, sputtering hundreds of thousands of gallons of black Mako in the direction of their ally. Worse yet, the thing was changing. Growing. Changing shape and reforming. If Yuffie had been there, she would have screamed and realized how similar it was to the huge Angel of Death she had seen in Nibelheim. Arms, torsos and other things acquired definition before the horrified agents' eyes. Tseng ordered a hasty retreat.

Nobody questioned him.

And in the congealing darkness of the submarine dockyards, and army started its rebirth.

Creepers. By the dozens. More as the black flow continued. They didn't understand what the red and black balsam was. But it brought them to life, gave them purpose.

To destroy and rend in the name of Jenova.

The laughter rang louder and louder.

Soon, four figures finished their regeneration, and the black fountain was shut. It had cost them immensely, in pain and in willpower. But they had succeeded.

Three disciples, hundreds of soldiers... and a single green-eyed General. All blessed with the kiss of Jenova and the power of the undead.

Extending his wing, the Will was given life anew.

"SEPHIROTH LIVES!"

* * *

And out there, in the infinite darkness of the Black Land, Pip stirred. Pain racked his body, the likes he never thought he'd feel again since he died. Opening his eye was a challenge unto itself, and his limbs felt made of lead. Barely clinging to reality as the burning sensation seared his chest, he managed to hold to something and rise. Straining his eyesight to levels he knew not to be conductive to keeping his last eye, he only managed to see a perimeter of dull, gray figures around him, with colored bundles at their bases.

He tried to walk to one. Didn't take too much for the chain slapped to his wrist to scratch him deeply enough to draw blood.

Surprised by the sudden extra pain, Pip, through gritted teeth, gasped for air as tears welled in his eye. Batting at them with his free hand, he managed to clear his vision enough to realize his right arm was chained, with the end of the chain going all the way to a crude gray pillar deeply rooted in the black sand of the floor.

It hit him then, that the other gray things he had barely managed to squint at, were more of those pillars... each holding somebody captive.

Turning aroung without further extending the chain, he managed to recognize some of the figures. The Vatican swordmistress. The werewolf. The witch.

Oh, and the Police Girl.

Wait, what?

_"Pip. Pip pip pip pip pip. Pipipipipiiiii!"_

The mirthless laughter in the air was nothing short of ear-splitting.

He then noticed the assault rifle laying at the base of the pillar.

_"Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run... Did you ever see such a sight in your life?"_

"Wherever the fuck you are, you better come out!"

He turned. And stared in the deep black sclerae of Sabbath.

Without even stopping to think, he emptied the rifle's entire ammo clip on her without realizing what he was doing. Didn't do much, as Sabbath merely bit her lower lip in a failed bid to control her laughter. Suppressing her giggles, she examined her wounds, and with a negligible effort drew power from the darkness to heal herself. Twisting and writhing, the darkness came to her. And it flowed into her wounds and closed them just like Alucard's power once had done the same. Sighing, Sabbath asked:

_"Didja know nothing's going to be the same when you return? 'Cos hell's coming to town, baby! Endless death or timeless glory, to the light of bridges burning!"_

"Who are you and what is this place?"

Sabbath proceeded to drawl out:

_"Naaaame? Sabbath. Plaaaaace? Black Land! I like this game!"_

Pip proceeded to deliver a roundhouse kick to Sabbath's head and drag her near the pillar, so he could choke her on the same chain he was imprisoned by.

"Why are we here?"

_"To make sure everything goes according to plan!"_

Tightening the chain, Pip asked:

"And the plan would be?"

Cackling gleefully, Sabbath crowed:

_"Transcend Force! Total Destruction! Hellfire!"_


	12. Corruption

I've been hanging on to this for a while. Reason? I wanted to see whether anybody actually liked _literally_ anything else I churned. Damn, people... A guy has feelings. Have to admit, I'm starting to reaaaally get annoyed with the excessive attention this one fic gets. Go check _Arcana. The Land of Happy Endings. Exultant Heretic._ I'm more than a one act man, goddamn.

Review. I own nothin and I profit in no way.

I really shouldn't even have to actually remind you of this, but... ah, the nostalgia of the first fic...

* * *

The flight of the _Shera _had been mostly normal, for Cid and the entire crew. The night had brought little wind and the conditions for airborne transportation were prime. Not to mention the whole ship had just been through a slight retrofitting effort and cleaned up just so nothing could present an issue to the captain. Calmly lighting up another cigarette, the man in question stared into the night sky of Gaia. The mountain range had been cleared and only a small patch of land remained until the ship could moor in Junon's aerodrome. Glancing at his watch, he estimated the whole damn thing could be over with time for a quick liftoff back to Edge and a nice tequila shots. He briefly groaned, remembering the complete disaster that were the hotel rooms on every single damn hotel in the entire city. Not to mention the Shinra barracks.

He leaned out from one of the main deck's main windows. It was a sobering sight, to see everything in perspective...

Something huge and black darted across the window. He leaned forward and scanned the area. Normally monsters were scared to death of the sound of the airship's engines.

"Eh, McSweeney, got radar data for me?"

"Not much, sir, this blip keeps popping up; uh, here it comes. Sir, I think it's trying to ram us..."

"What the $#¡?/ are you talking about, you..."

CRASH!

In a single horrific moment, Cid understood the thing had, indeed, rammed the ship, cracking the main deck's windows. Explosive decompression spread in and instant and much of the crew had to reach for whatever solid object they could grab onto as the force of the winds pushed them into the wide gap created by the monster.

And things were still getting worse, as Cid saw the being holding into the edges of the glass. Smiling cruelly, the One-Winged Angel asked:

"Where is he?"

* * *

Integra fumed. The retrofitting effort for London wasn't going well; many people, clinging to the belief the city had been attacked with a virological weapon still refused to return to the city. While the misunderstanding was a blessing in as much as she could blame somebody for the media, she still had difficulty hiring workers to aid in the effort for London.

"Madam?"

"Yes? I'm busy. Make it fast."

Without raising her head, the man deposited a charred circuitry tablet on her desk.

"What is this?"

"One of the Gate's pieces of circuitry. It was found like this this morning."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"This was one of the pieces we'd already cracked. We can create the replacement, but the head tech thought you'd be paranoid about this."

"Damn straight I'm paranoid! How did it happen?"

"Nobody knows, but if you look here in these edges, the burn marks are centered around the main memory core. We have backups of all the data, of course. But it's still sabotage."

Integra paused and reached for a cigar.

"...double the armed guard at Battersea. I'm going to personally supervise all efforts with the Gate myself. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Madam!"

Holding her cigar as she lit it, Integra asked:

"Oh, and you say this piece has already been reverse-engineered?"

"Certainly. It's just a memory disk. See, we can't access the higher-level technology of the Gate without a complete disassembly, and its armor casing alone is like nothing we've ever seen. It's one of the most durable, heat-resistant alloys we've encountered so far, but the sheer weight and durability makes it near-impossible to open it without tools."

"And destruction? If somebody wanted it to be destroyed, how would they do it?"

"Short of covering it with a layer of thermite, the damn thing would remain like that. We can't open the casing yet and..."

"Enough. The Gate now has 24/7 armed guard. NATO's already pestering me for the scavenged technology; I don't need their insistence quadrupled by an idiot trying to hinder the results of this experiment. Your name and rank?"

"Henry Eckhart, Second Class Laboratory Technician."

"Excellent. You are promoted to First Class."

* * *

Cid clenched his teeth. Some fool had managed to hit the automatic seal switch, and the hole had been swiftly covered by two inches of reinforced armor.

Which left him, the passengers and the crew with the issue of a reborn Sephiroth about to go on a rampage.

"Cid, what was..."

Sephiroth smiled. As always, his smile was a huge one. Predatorial, hungry and sadistic. The sheer delight in his voice when he spoke disgusted Cid.

"Strife..."

Cloud slowly, slowly walked backwards. He was mostly unarmed, with his sword in the level below and only a knife to defend himself with. Sephiroth, as always, wielded the Masamune with the utmost confidence and a repugnant amount of deliberation. Swinging the katana to increase momentum, said monster asked:

"Did I come at a bad moment? Excuse me. Never mind, I think I'm taking a few liberties today."

Cloud swatted for anything he could use as a deterrent. Sephiroth calmly snickered.

"What are you trying to find? A pipe? A bat? Please. Bow down and take your death with some dignity."

A flying kunai struck him from behind. With all due calmness, Sephiroth stopped and pulled out the kunai from his back. He felt nothing but satisfaction as he felt the damaged tissue regrow in a matter of seconds. The expression in his face as Yuffie kept throwing whatever she could find on her belt at him was nothing but a sinful ectasy.

"Umm. You should try this. There's a certain pleasure in pain, something I can't quite fathom..."

He kept on walking. Oh, Gaia. It was fun. The power. The sheer delight. How had he ever lived without it before? Making an obscene show, he methodically removed each dagger and let it drop to the floor. When the time to withdraw the last one, he took his time pulling it out and then proceeded to lick it clean. Too horrified to move, Yuffie managed to take out Conformer and attempted to leap away.

"Oh, no, you don't! I'm having too much fun!"

With a speed burst, he grabbed Yuffie's ankle and slammed her against the glass of the airship's main windows, _hard._ The sound of several cracks across Yuffie's shoulder only helped him get more excited. As he leaned in to speak to her ear, his mouth was watering. For a second, he wondered exactly why he was having such potent rushes. And why the child evoked such hungers. But the allure coming from her was stronger. And, by Jenova, he was ready to swear he heard her heartbeat in her chest...

He bared his fangs. And Yuffie screeched at how utterly inhuman he now looked.

Lost in the moment, he opened his mouth and snapped his jaws on Yuffie's neck. With a painful and sickening sound, Yuffie descended into histerics. Desperately, she managed to bite Sephiroth herself, hard enough to draw blood. Immediately, she spat it out, as the monster himself began swallowing deep drinks of her blood.

"What the...?"

The sound of Cloud's voice was enough to snap Sephiroth out of whatever had possessed him. For the first time, he appeared to realize exactly what he was doing. He took a step back and stared at his gloves with an expression of complete astonishment. With a flick of his hand, he tried to clean his mouth, and became aware of how he'd enjoyed drinking the girl's blood. His expression darkened and he screamed in horror at what was happening to no longer cared about how he was getting surrounded, or how Strife had his sword back, or how the girl was carried away...

And then something worse happened.

His stomach tightened painfully and knotted in ways he had never suffered. In instants, the pain had passed from a sinful pleasure to a hellish spike. Forced to kneel, he managed to insert two fingers in his throat, desperately trying to vomit out the consumed blood. Pain as he had never experienced it consumed him before the rush of liquid from his insides and the desperate gasps for air told him he was successful. He opened his mouth, and allowed everything out...

Retreating to the wall, he managed to spit out the disgusting remnants of whatever had been within him. And he opened his eyes wider as he realized he had not released the blood.

In the floor, the only thing he had managed to expel was a viscous green liquid he knew all too well. Jenova Cells.

Gasping for air, he managed to see how his reflection on the airship's metal changed. The green of his eyes broke and subsumed in a blossoming smatter of red.

Screaming in pain, humiliation and despair, the One-Winged Angel shattered another window and escaped into the nightly Gaia air.

* * *

With a hard twist, Pip again pulled at the chain that kept him prisoner. It did nothing.

_"Why don't ya just give up? 'S not like ya have any future left!"_

"Why. Can't. You. Shut up?"

_"'Cos it's fun to keep bugging you!"_

Pip dropped the chain, opened his mouth in apparent disbelief, and then closed it in apparent understanding.

"Oh, I get it! It's fun! Oh, and you know what else is fun?"

_"What? What?"_

"Look behind ya!"

Sabbath did so. Staring straight into the Captain's punch.

"Nice work, wardog. Release me?"

The werewolf merely nodded. With a single yank, he shattered the chain.

"Alright now, let's release the others."

_"You guys are seriously messed up. What difference does it ma..."_

As the Captain again brutalized Sabbath, Pip silently thanked him again. Not too long after, the two of them had managed to break off the chains holding Yumie.

"Ugh. Again with you."

"Yep. Again with us. That sword of yours, please use it and silence this thing, okay?"

"My pleasure."

Zorin was next. The less said about her enthusiasm in silencing Sabbath, the better. The other three meanwhile released Seras herself. After the chain was broken, Pip dragged her to the pillar and pressed two fingers to her neck.

"No pulse. Not that it would mean much in these circumstances, mind you... how _do _you check if a vampire is alive while unconscious?"

Yumie stepped in and slapped Seras as hard as she could. There was no response.

"Good question. Normally I just limited to kill them. Oi, witch!"

Zorin raised her head and allowed Sabbath to regenerate as she harshly asked:

"What?"

"You got those fancy illusion powers? Use 'em. Find out from Miss Idiot's brain how to get out of here. And see if you can find how to help the Police Girl in the way."

Grinning wildly, Zorin slammed her hand upon Sabbath's head and released her powers. Almost immediately, she pulled back as if it was on fire.

"GAH! What the fu...?"

"What?"

"We can get out. But it isn't going to get pretty. And the memories in there... _scheisse_... let's just say I'd rather watch the Battle of the Bulge. Oh, and about Master, I have bad news..."

* * *

In the damaged remains of the Shinra Junon Reactor Core, the four Turks moved in with flamethrowers.

"We're screwed for real this time, aren't we, boss?"

"Shut up. No jokes today."

This being said, the four of them began using the spewing gouts of flame upon the half-formed monsters growing from the darkness.

"Sir! Over here!"

Clenching his teeth and preparing for the worst, Tseng asked:

"Now what?"

Rude merely pointed as he raised the weapon, keeping his finger trained upon the trigger.

From the black, writhing blob several shapes began forming, becoming increasingly humanoid. Tseng raised a hand, calling the others and signaling them to keep the weapons armed and prepared. As this happened, the five beings finalized their regeneration.

"'allo, gentlemen. We're servants of Seras Victoria. And right now, she's not available. So we're going to make do."

Tseng advanced, flamethrower primed and ready.

"And where is she?"

Pip merely gestured to her unconscious form.

"What's wrong with her?"

"For starters, she's undead. To get it worse, she got stuffed full of that Mako junk and exploded from the inside and had to regenerate from what she had left after the pretty boy ate whatever he could from her. And just for kicks it seems like the Sabbath thing is intent on killing us all."

Tseng swore. He was going to kill Sabbath. Again and again and again.

"Can we do something or she's out of comission?"

Pip stopped for a second.

"I need a bastard. A real SOB who destroys dreams for fun and rip Paradise apart to get his jollies. And preferably won't try to kill me."

"A cheating, conniving bastard capable of backstabbing you at the first order can do?"

"We work with what we have."

Reno grinned.


	13. Falling Through the Cracks

Hello there. Again, I invite you to check out anything in my profile beyond this story. If you want laughs, head for _First Time. _If you want suspense and intrigue check out _Inferno._ But please don't remain only stuck in this story.

Own nothing. Make no profit. Read and review.

* * *

An immense army marched on, to the city where they hoped to sow the seed of their ancient mother. The monsters marched, knowing that the darkness, more now than ever, was their ally. They basked upon it, breathed it, revelled in its power. Many of the beasts had never tasted such power, and excitedly ripped apart and devoured any living creature crossing their path with a savagery and brutality they found utterly incredible. And the sheer flavor of the prey and the adrenaline of the hunt seemed so greater than usual...

The three beings leading the caravan stopped, and again directed their attention to the night sky.

"Why isn't he coming?"

"Psh. He found something fun to do. Hopefully, he's going to leave some for us. Heh. I'm drooling just by thinking of the pain big brother's making them go through."

"Oh, hey, look. The prodigal's coming!"

Sure enough, the huge looming silhouette of the One-Winged Angel began darting for their position from the night sky. All three briefly wondered what had happened.

The figure grew and grew until it finally touched ground not far away from them.

"Big brother?"

The figure of Sephiroth did not move.

"Are you all right?"

Still kneeling in almost the same position, a hoarse voice sharply ordered:

"Don't come any closer!"

All three of the Remnants froze. Kadaj, ignoring the last order, approached his elder brother.

"What happened?"

"I... told you... **_stay away!"_**

Unsheathing his sword, the General had swiped the air before Kadaj, managing to draw blood from the neck. Assuming a combat stance as Kadaj's jaw fell from the unexpected attack, Sephiroth managed to spit through gritted teeth:

"I warned you, idiot. Stay away!"

"But you cut me!"

"And it will heal, you imbecile! Redouble the march to Midgar! Mother needs us!"

In a guttural, pained growl, Sephiroth managed to mutter:

"We... we can't disappoint her..."

And passingly, when he was sure his brothers were busy provoking the beasts into speeding up their pace, he stopped for a second, and spat into his glove as a disgusting flavor kept rising from his stomach. Pained, he waved away his hand to scatter what he knew were more Jenova Cells.

He didn't know it, but his eyes by then had acquired a fully red tint. Blood seeped from his eyes as a mockery of the tears he couldn't shed ever again. And the cell degradation of his system worsened as the black matter absorbed more of the stolen blood. And conversely, as more of the living darkness grew, more of his original body was consumed. His very self was being diffused with every step he took. Slowly but surely his identity was being erased as a new monster from within awaited his birth.

But for the moment, his desperation grew anyway. He had to remain pure. He had to.

* * *

In the airship, every available hand was in a desperate frenzy. The Wutai girl was already dying and there was too little they could do.

"Damn you, you miserable fools! Stop the goddamn bleeding!"

"We're doing what we can, but she's a goner for sure 'less we manage to take her to Junon!"

"You keep 'er alive and shut yer trap about goners, 'cause you will be the one if you don't shut up!"

Cloud was very obviously fretting next to Cid, frantically asking:

"Can't we do anything else? Cure materia? Phoenix summon?"

"Materia won't do any good if the bastard infected 'er with Geostigma. An' the Summon? You daft, Spike? In middle of a delicate airship in th' middle of flight?"

Cloud merely turned away, pained in his pride and with the sensation of having been thoroughly humiliated by Sephiroth in more ways than one.

"You saying there is nothing we can do right now for her?"

"Vince? Do us all a favor an' stop him from kvetching and crying, 'kay?"

"Cid!"

"Cloud, you had no means of defending yourself. Yuffie threw herself in Sephiroth's range of attack because she was concerned. She was armed, had experience and had fought against him before. Whatever she did, she did it with full understanding of the repercussions. Now stand silent and contribute by calming down and remaining as such."

Defeated, Cloud slumped in a chair.

"Again. I'm a failure. I'm nothing but a failure."

Cid chomped harder on his cigar and began gesturing to Vincent, initiating a wordless conversation with him. Panting with some indignation at first at Cid's meddage, Vincent's shoulders slumped and he did what he knew had to be done. Grabbing Cloud by the collar, he lifted him as much as he could and then brought his face to his.

"Now, listen to me, you pathetic science fair project. I have had enough of that line of thought and you are not going to begin dwelling on your failures again. I already wasted thirty years of my life with moping and weeping inside a coffin myself and I won't have you waste yours in an equally useless_ rant_. Want to blame someone? Blame Sephiroth, not yourself. Want to be happy? Oh, don't come with that line that you don't deserve happiness or I will shove you through the main ramp with no parachute. Have you given any thought to the people who care about you and are drawn into that ridiculous world of regrets and lamentations you make for yourself? You have saved the world and fixed your mistakes until that son of a $$#$& came back and ruined it all again. Use that hate instead of allowing it to eat you."

"Use hate for what?"

"Are you really that dense? Motivation. Now go and make yourself useful instead of crying and sobbing."

Panting with indignation and confusion, Cloud staggered out of the main control room.

"Where are you going?"

"Engine room. Somebody may need a hand there."

"Atta boy."

Closing the door to the control room, Vincent looked at Cid.

"Think I was too hard on him?"

"Too hard, Vince? My man, that was grand. I'll see if I can whip up the recording so Teef can use it to knock off Mister Pissy-Pants off his high horse when he gets on this groove."

* * *

The werewolf and the Vatican chick had left, sensing several of the black things as they attacked the coastal town next to the fortress. Which, Pip reflected, was perhaps for the best.

Reno asked:

"Dude, where are we?"

"Hell if I know. Sorta dream/mindscape. Do yourself a favor and don't think too much about it."

The encompassing darkness surrounding them both lessened, and thin streams of light of some sort began pouring in. With each passing moment, more of the scenery became clear. And from the darkness a sky and a sun was born. Below them, a ground appeared and forms and colors started taking definition. Reno huffed as it became clear what was happening. The sky cleared and acquired a brilliant blue hue. The ground below became concrete and asphalt, and bricks and mortar began revealing themselves.

"Well, fuck me. This place looks like it's brand new, rolling out of the line..."

"You're trying to say, too good to be true. Like somebody tried too hard to make a really, really nice world. Made with cookie cutters and prepackaged for sale."

"Ya. Disgusting. No litter, no smoke... Damn, and I thought Midgar was bad..."

"Oh, just you wait till you meet the people."

"What about the people? They ain't homicidal loons, are they?"

"Nah. They're nice people. Imagine it: a world full of only nice people, held together by all of them being mind-crushingly happy."

_"Everybody's **stoned**_ in this world?"

"Twenty-four, seven. And everything works out here: taxes, cops, garbage collectors, _politicians_..."

"Dude. Tell me we have a good reason to be here."

"Not me. You. You're going to play around with fire and you're going to burn down this sugar and spice world."

"Ehh, not that I'm opposed to destruction of any kind, but may I know why?"

"Why? I'll tell ya why."

Pip dragged Reno across the streets until both were in front of a large, imposing building.

"What is this, city hall?"

"Nope. Police station."

_"Cops _work in there? Damn."

"Shut up and come in."

Both entered through the lobby. Through ample glass sheets several officers could be seen, diligently ticking away at their typewriters.

"See the strawberry blonde, two places from the left?"

"Who? Oh, ya. Gotcha. What of her... ohhh..."

Seras Victoria, blissfully unaware of the presence of the two men, was happily ticking away a report. When she was done, she ripped it off the typewriter and sprang with a happy bounce to the desk of her superior and left it on the basket labaled "in". Then she returned to her desk and began filing another report.

"She's also stoned, ain't she?"

Pip turned angrily at him.

"Listen to me, you bloody sonofa#&#$/$. She's being fed pure, undiluted happiness. She gets to work in what she loves, she gets to have the family and friends she wanted, she gats to live a normal life without us raping her timeline."

Seething, he distanced himself from Reno.

"She had a damn horrible childhood after her parents were killed. And then she died on her first day on th' job as a cop. And then, she gets brought back and the real madness starts. She eats me to rip away her attackers and loses the only surrogate family she ever had, for good or for bad. Here, she's in a happy fantasy world where she can have everything she wanted without us."

"And... that's a bad thing?"

"Normally, it's a damn good thing for her to dream like this. But guess who's keeping her stoned and unable to wake up from the fancy, prancy little dream? The part who doesn't want to wake up. Which, for the moment, is unfortunately way stronger than anything else in her mind right now. Look at this place! The air is sickeningly clear, there aren't even smokes here! The streets are clean and the world works! This is a perfect world, it's... it's... damn... repugnant, how all of it is so incredibly fake and she can't see what is right upon her nose! And what sickens me more is how damn happy she is! It's like she's..."

Reno leaned against a pillar.

"... stoned. Tolja. She's too happy to realize she needs to quit, and even if you showed her the way out, she wouldn't take it, _'cos happiness is like a drug,_ man. You always end up thinking it's infinite and that you can't ever have enough of it till it does end. And by then you're left alone in the dark with only rosy memories of a make believe world. You want her out, can do. Not gonna be pleasant. But can do. Lemme guess. There's a reason why you can't do this yourself, innit?"

Pip lowered his hat.

"She can't see what she has already denied by accepting this world. She rejected all of us. For a dream. Break it up. Make her see why illusions and happy endings... just don't last."

"Can do. Gonna hurt."

Turning around, as he moved to the receptionist, Reno asked:

"You want her truly free, doncha?"

"... what else can we do for those we love?"

Reno smiled and shook Pip's hand.

"Gimme an hour, tops."

* * *

In the depths of Midgar Reactor Number Eight, the huddled mass of figures gathered around the immense pit of machinery directly linking the Reactor itself with the Lifestream. Inactive as the device might be, it still provided an easy access to the remainder of the Black Lifestream and enough energy to complete the night's preparations. The beasts were getting impatient, and howled and clamored. Through gritted teeth, Sephiroth had to remind himself they were the expression of his and his mother's will to avoid going on a bloody rampage. Staring at the destroyed structure, Sephiroth had time for brief memories of the Nibelheim reactor before the pain waves again hit again.

"Hurry up! We… we don't have much time! Hasten everything, but ensure Mother comes back, whole… and untainted!"

"I told you, this is going to take time! We can't afford to waste energy, and Mother's buried too deeply as it is!"

"Then sacrifice the Creepers! It's not like they're irreplaceable!"

"Calm down, brother! Everything's going according to plan, isn't it?"

And Sephiroth's rage boiled.

"Plan? Plan? You imbecile!"

Grabbing Loz by whatever he could hold of his suit, Sephiroth slammed him against a wall and screamed:

"Don't you realize this is going so insidiously, repulsively _wrong?"_

And then the image of the screaming girl flashed behind his eyes. Almost throwing Loz away, Sephiroth staggered backwards, desperately trying to avert the accusing gaze of all those surrounding him. His three brothers exchanged looks. They did not know what was happening, but it was bad. Bad enough to make their older brother truly desperate.

"Calm down. Mother is coming. And when she's here, she will look down upon you and see what a good son you've been."

Sephiroth remained motionless as his breathing slowed down.

In a flash, he sprinted across the huge room, killing every Creeper he came across. His sword danced in the darkness, only giving the faint, rapidly vanishing spots where the light was reflected upon it. And as the three younger Shades entered a closed circle stance to defend themselves, the insane warrior suddenly stopped.

"There it is. Use the power of the Creepers and _hurry up!"_

A dull roar shook the foundations of the Reactor. Sephiroth dropped his arm and looked around furiously. The rumbling increased, and cracks began forming across the small Mako pool. Immense, ropy strings of black began shooting from the openings, desperately grabbing at support where they could. The disused tubes began cracking as the immense force of the tentacles began seeping thorugh. Steam jets hissed as the immense engine shattered.

A huge, looming black figure rose from the pool.

To many eyes, it would have come as a monstrous, diseased mockery of a woman. To the four beings now before her, it was divinely beautiful.

After all, a mother is God in the eyes of her children.

The former General knelt and dragged himself before her.

"Mother! Mother! It is you!"

Desperately, he rose and reached to the abomination before him. The being studied him curiously for a second. It extended what might have resembled an arm or a tentacle to him, and delicately traced his jaw and caressed his face. It cocked its head as Sephiroth fell into a complete ectasy. He was wih his Mother again. He was complete. Finally. Nothing would stop him ever again, and all would be glorious...

Jenova perked up for a second and dragged her eldest uncomfortably near to her face. With another tentacle, she gently poked at his commissure and tasted his drool.

She then proceeded to fling the tentacle holding Sephiroth as far as she could from the main body, and swung it violently in a frenzy of violence. Sephiroth screamed in horror. What was going on? What had happened? Why was his Mother so angry? What had he done? Giving him no time or chance to reflect or even beg for forgiveness, the thing called Jenova prepared and launched him out of the reactor, breaking several floors in his horrific way outside. Floor after floor, grate, plank and sheet rock broke with the immense force he had been thrown with, and beyond the pain, he once called Sephiroth was thoroughly devastated. _What had he done? What had he done?_

Barely resisting the impacts, he finally broke the last sheet and exited to the Gaia night sky. Deploying the wing by expending nearly all of his remaining energy, he almost crashed several times and managed to plough through a significantly weaker roof. He didn't know what had happened, or where he had landed.

All he saw was green, green, and eyes, lots of blue and yellow and red eyes all staring at him and a tall, evil red figure hovering above him with the scythe of his death...

Hello there. Again, I invite you to check out anything in my profile beyond this story. If you want laughs, head for _First Time. _If you want suspense and intrigue check out _Inferno._ But please don't remain only stuck in this story.

Own nothing. Make no profit. Read and review.

* * *

An immense army marched on, to the city where they hoped to sow the seed of their ancient mother. The monsters marched, knowing that the darkness, more now than ever, was their ally. They basked upon it, breathed it, revelled in its power. Many of the beasts had never tasted such power, and excitedly ripped apart and devoured any living creature crossing their path with a savagery and brutality they found utterly incredible. And the sheer flavor of the prey and the adrenaline of the hunt seemed so greater than usual...

The three beings leading the caravan stopped, and again directed their attention to the night sky.

"Why isn't he coming?"

"Psh. He found something fun to do. Hopefully, he's going to leave some for us. Heh. I'm drooling just by thinking of the pain big brother's making them go through."

"Oh, hey, look. The prodigal's coming!"

Sure enough, the huge looming silhouette of the One-Winged Angel began darting for their position from the night sky. All three briefly wondered what had happened.

The figure grew and grew until it finally touched ground not far away from them.

"Big brother?"

The figure of Sephiroth did not move.

"Are you all right?"

Still kneeling in almost the same position, a hoarse voice sharply ordered:

"Don't come any closer!"

All three of the Remnants froze. Kadaj, ignoring the last order, approached his elder brother.

"What happened?"

"I... told you... **_stay away!"_**

Unsheathing his sword, the General had swiped the air before Kadaj, managing to draw blood from the neck. Assuming a combat stance as Kadaj's jaw fell from the unexpected attack, Sephiroth managed to spit through gritted teeth:

"I warned you, idiot. Stay away!"

"But you cut me!"

"And it will heal, you imbecile! Redouble the march to Midgar! Mother needs us!"

In a guttural, pained growl, Sephiroth managed to mutter:

"We... we can't disappoint her..."

And passingly, when he was sure his brothers were busy provoking the beasts into speeding up their pace, he stopped for a second, and spat into his glove as a disgusting flavor kept rising from his stomach. Pained, he waved away his hand to scatter what he knew were more Jenova Cells.

He didn't know it, but his eyes by then had acquired a fully red tint. Blood seeped from his eyes as a mockery of the tears he couldn't shed ever again. And the cell degradation of his system worsened as the black matter absorbed more of the stolen blood. And conversely, as more of the living darkness grew, more of his original body was consumed. His very self was being diffused with every step he took. Slowly but surely his identity was being erased as a new monster from within awaited his birth.

But for the moment, his desperation grew anyway. He had to remain pure. He had to.

* * *

In the airship, every available hand was in a desperate frenzy. The Wutai girl was already dying and there was too little they could do.

"Damn you, you miserable fools! Stop the goddamn bleeding!"

"We're doing what we can, but she's a goner for sure 'less we manage to take her to Junon!"

"You keep 'er alive and shut yer trap about goners, 'cause you will be the one if you don't shut up!"

Cloud was very obviously fretting next to Cid, frantically asking:

"Can't we do anything else? Cure materia? Phoenix summon?"

"Materia won't do any good if the bastard infected 'er with Geostigma. An' the Summon? You daft, Spike? In middle of a delicate airship in th' middle of flight?"

Cloud merely turned away, pained in his pride and with the sensation of having been thoroughly humiliated by Sephiroth in more ways than one.

"You saying there is nothing we can do right now for her?"

"Vince? Do us all a favor an' stop him from kvetching and crying, 'kay?"

"Cid!"

"Cloud, you had no means of defending yourself. Yuffie threw herself in Sephiroth's range of attack because she was concerned. She was armed, had experience and had fought against him before. Whatever she did, she did it with full understanding of the repercussions. Now stand silent and contribute by calming down and remaining as such."

Defeated, Cloud slumped in a chair.

"Again. I'm a failure. I'm nothing but a failure."

Cid chomped harder on his cigar and began gesturing to Vincent, initiating a wordless conversation with him. Panting with some indignation at first at Cid's meddage, Vincent's shoulders slumped and he did what he knew had to be done. Grabbing Cloud by the collar, he lifted him as much as he could and then brought his face to his.

"Now, listen to me, you pathetic science fair project. I have had enough of that line of thought and you are not going to begin dwelling on your failures again. I already wasted thirty years of my life with moping and weeping inside a coffin myself and I won't have you waste yours in an equally useless_ rant_. Want to blame someone? Blame Sephiroth, not yourself. Want to be happy? Oh, don't come with that line that you don't deserve happiness or I will shove you through the main ramp with no parachute. Have you given any thought to the people who care about you and are drawn into that ridiculous world of regrets and lamentations you make for yourself? You have saved the world and fixed your mistakes until that son of a $$#$& came back and ruined it all again. Use that hate instead of allowing it to eat you."

"Use hate for what?"

"Are you really that dense? Motivation. Now go and make yourself useful instead of crying and sobbing."

Panting with indignation and confusion, Cloud staggered out of the main control room.

"Where are you going?"

"Engine room. Somebody may need a hand there."

"Atta boy."

Closing the door to the control room, Vincent looked at Cid.

"Think I was too hard on him?"

"Too hard, Vince? My man, that was grand. I'll see if I can whip up the recording so Teef can use it to knock off Mister Pissy-Pants off his high horse when he gets on this groove."

* * *

The werewolf and the Vatican chick had left, sensing several of the black things as they attacked the coastal town next to the fortress. Which, Pip reflected, was perhaps for the best.

Reno asked:

"Dude, where are we?"

"Hell if I know. Sorta dream/mindscape. Do yourself a favor and don't think too much about it."

The encompassing darkness surrounding them both lessened, and thin streams of light of some sort began pouring in. With each passing moment, more of the scenery became clear. And from the darkness a sky and a sun was born. Below them, a ground appeared and forms and colors started taking definition. Reno huffed as it became clear what was happening. The sky cleared and acquired a brilliant blue hue. The ground below became concrete and asphalt, and bricks and mortar began revealing themselves.

"Well, fuck me. This place looks like it's brand new, rolling out of the line..."

"You're trying to say, too good to be true. Like somebody tried too hard to make a really, really nice world. Made with cookie cutters and prepackaged for sale."

"Ya. Disgusting. No litter, no smoke... Damn, and I thought Midgar was bad..."

"Oh, just you wait till you meet the people."

"What about the people? They ain't homicidal loons, are they?"

"Nah. They're nice people. Imagine it: a world full of only nice people, held together by all of them being mind-crushingly happy."

_"Everybody's **stoned**_ in this world?"

"Twenty-four, seven. And everything works out here: taxes, cops, garbage collectors, _politicians_..."

"Dude. Tell me we have a good reason to be here."

"Not me. You. You're going to play around with fire and you're going to burn down this sugar and spice world."

"Ehh, not that I'm opposed to destruction of any kind, but may I know why?"

"Why? I'll tell ya why."

Pip dragged Reno across the streets until both were in front of a large, imposing building.

"What is this, city hall?"

"Nope. Police station."

_"Cops _work in there? Damn."

"Shut up and come in."

Both entered through the lobby. Through ample glass sheets several officers could be seen, diligently ticking away at their typewriters.

"See the strawberry blonde, two places from the left?"

"Who? Oh, ya. Gotcha. What of her... ohhh..."

Seras Victoria, blissfully unaware of the presence of the two men, was happily ticking away a report. When she was done, she ripped it off the typewriter and sprang with a happy bounce to the desk of her superior and left it on the basket labaled "in". Then she returned to her desk and began filing another report.

"She's also stoned, ain't she?"

Pip turned angrily at him.

"Listen to me, you bloody sonofa#&#$/$. She's being fed pure, undiluted happiness. She gets to work in what she loves, she gets to have the family and friends she wanted, she gats to live a normal life without us raping her timeline."

Seething, he distanced himself from Reno.

"She had a damn horrible childhood after her parents were killed. And then she died on her first day on th' job as a cop. And then, she gets brought back and the real madness starts. She eats me to rip away her attackers and loses the only surrogate family she ever had, for good or for bad. Here, she's in a happy fantasy world where she can have everything she wanted without us."

"And... that's a bad thing?"

"Normally, it's a damn good thing for her to dream like this. But guess who's keeping her stoned and unable to wake up from the fancy, prancy little dream? The part who doesn't want to wake up. Which, for the moment, is unfortunately way stronger than anything else in her mind right now. Look at this place! The air is sickeningly clear, there aren't even smokes here! The streets are clean and the world works! This is a perfect world, it's... it's... damn... repugnant, how all of it is so incredibly fake and she can't see what is right upon her nose! And what sickens me more is how damn happy she is! It's like she's..."

Reno leaned against a pillar.

"... stoned. Tolja. She's too happy to realize she needs to quit, and even if you showed her the way out, she wouldn't take it, _'cos happiness is like a drug,_ man. You always end up thinking it's infinite and that you can't ever have enough of it till it does end. And by then you're left alone in the dark with only rosy memories of a make believe world. You want her out, can do. Not gonna be pleasant. But can do. Lemme guess. There's a reason why you can't do this yourself, innit?"

Pip lowered his hat.

"She can't see what she has already denied by accepting this world. She rejected all of us. For a dream. Break it up. Make her see why illusions and happy endings... just don't last."

"Can do. Gonna hurt."

Turning around, as he moved to the receptionist, Reno asked:

"You want her truly free, doncha?"

"... what else can we do for those we love?"

Reno smiled and shook Pip's hand.

"Gimme an hour, tops."

* * *

In the depths of Midgar Reactor Number Eight, the huddled mass of figures gathered around the immense pit of machinery directly linking the Reactor itself with the Lifestream. Inactive as the device might be, it still provided an easy access to the remainder of the Black Lifestream and enough energy to complete the night's preparations. The beasts were getting impatient, and howled and clamored. Through gritted teeth, Sephiroth had to remind himself they were the expression of his and his mother's will to avoid going on a bloody rampage. Staring at the destroyed structure, Sephiroth had time for brief memories of the Nibelheim reactor before the pain waves again hit again.

"Hurry up! We… we don't have much time! Hasten everything, but ensure Mother comes back, whole… and untainted!"

"I told you, this is going to take time! We can't afford to waste energy, and Mother's buried too deeply as it is!"

"Then sacrifice the Creepers! It's not like they're irreplaceable!"

"Calm down, brother! Everything's going according to plan, isn't it?"

And Sephiroth's rage boiled.

"Plan? Plan? You imbecile!"

Grabbing Loz by whatever he could hold of his suit, Sephiroth slammed him against a wall and screamed:

"Don't you realize this is going so insidiously, repulsively _wrong?"_

And then the image of the screaming girl flashed behind his eyes. Almost throwing Loz away, Sephiroth staggered backwards, desperately trying to avert the accusing gaze of all those surrounding him. His three brothers exchanged looks. They did not know what was happening, but it was bad. Bad enough to make their older brother truly desperate.

"Calm down. Mother is coming. And when she's here, she will look down upon you and see what a good son you've been."

Sephiroth remained motionless as his breathing slowed down.

In a flash, he sprinted across the huge room, killing every Creeper he came across. His sword danced in the darkness, only giving the faint, rapidly vanishing spots where the light was reflected upon it. And as the three younger Shades entered a closed circle stance to defend themselves, the insane warrior suddenly stopped.

"There it is. Use the power of the Creepers and _hurry up!"_

A dull roar shook the foundations of the Reactor. Sephiroth dropped his arm and looked around furiously. The rumbling increased, and cracks began forming across the small Mako pool. Immense, ropy strings of black began shooting from the openings, desperately grabbing at support where they could. The disused tubes began cracking as the immense force of the tentacles began seeping thorugh. Steam jets hissed as the immense engine shattered.

A huge, looming black figure rose from the pool.

To many eyes, it would have come as a monstrous, diseased mockery of a woman. To the four beings now before her, it was divinely beautiful.

After all, a mother is God in the eyes of her children.

The former General knelt and dragged himself before her.

"Mother! Mother! It is you!"

Desperately, he rose and reached to the abomination before him. The being studied him curiously for a second. It extended what might have resembled an arm or a tentacle to him, and delicately traced his jaw and caressed his face. It cocked its head as Sephiroth fell into a complete ectasy. He was wih his Mother again. He was complete. Finally. Nothing would stop him ever again, and all would be glorious...

Jenova perked up for a second and dragged her eldest uncomfortably near to her face. With another tentacle, she gently poked at his commissure and tasted his drool.

She then proceeded to fling the tentacle holding Sephiroth as far as she could from the main body, and swung it violently in a frenzy of violence. Sephiroth screamed in horror. What was going on? What had happened? Why was his Mother so angry? What had he done? Giving him no time or chance to reflect or even beg for forgiveness, the thing called Jenova prepared and launched him out of the reactor, breaking several floors in his horrific way outside. Floor after floor, grate, plank and sheet rock broke with the immense force he had been thrown with, and beyond the pain, he once called Sephiroth was thoroughly devastated. _What had he done? What had he done?_

Barely resisting the impacts, he finally broke the last sheet and exited to the Gaia night sky. Deploying the wing by expending nearly all of his remaining energy, he almost crashed several times and managed to plough through a significantly weaker roof. He didn't know what had happened, or where he had landed.

All he saw was green, green, and eyes, lots of blue and yellow and red eyes all staring at him and a tall, evil red figure hovering above him with the scythe of his death...


	14. Widening the Cracks

I know, I know! This should have been done last night. Blame the battery on this thing. I had to nearly rewrite it all from the very start. Off you go then, just keep readin' and reviewin' so next week you can get the next hit and I can finally get everything geared for da big bang!

* * *

Sephiroth pathetically waved his hand, trying to swat away the encroaching eyes. The eyes remained still for a moment, and then hissed and chittered in a chorus of laughter.

Desperately, the General turned his attention to the red monster looming above him, to stave off... or finally draw the scythe to his heart.

"End me. Why are you doing this to me? End me! Kill me..."

His hand flew to his throat and he managed to spit a small gush of Jenova Cells before falling into merciful oblivion.

* * *

Next to him, two figures, only seen by his eyes, stared at him from the huge pool of blessed water.

A tall shadow asked:

"Holy shit. What the hell has he been through?"

A thinner, smaller shade next to it, a vision of red and pink holding a rod over the fallen Sephiroth, answered:

"I don't know. But if his aura's any indication, he's dying, and fast."

_"Dying?_ The guy who withstood being torn apart twice is _dying?"_

"For real, this time, it seems. Even his soul's dying. Something else's eating him from inside, becoming him! Like a monster wearing his skin!"

"Oh, damn. Does that mean trouble for everybody, for us, or for them?"

"I don't know! The power of Jenova's dying inside him, and he along with it!"

* * *

In the bowels of Mako Reactor Number Eight, the three shades of what was once Sephiroth cowered before the huge being rising from the pool of corrupt, diseased Mako. The pale white being still bore some resemblance to a human female, but its overall structure was too monstrous to ever be mistaken for one at any distance. Beyond what passed for her elbows four ridged tentacles were born, and with delicate tenderness they gently seized the frightened brothers. The being was probably not even aware of what its expression belied, but the three calmed down when they saw the gentle smile flowing across her features.

"What did you do to big brother?"

_Corrupted. Damaged. Impure. Useless. Dying._

"And you _cast_ him away without a second thought?"

_Useless. Pointless. _

"What about us, Mother? He was the very vessel of our rebirth! Does that mean we're as _useless_ and _impure_ as him?"

The being coyly grinned.

_Tainted. But salvageable. Curable. Incorporable. Welcome._

_

* * *

_

In the massive Junon airfield, the _Shera _struggled for a moment to land and dropped with a dulled noise. Immediately, the main ramp was lowered and a group of hastily assembled paramedics moved out carrying the wounded ninja. Some Junon personnel had been radioed from the air and immediately had her sent to the base's emergency room.

Cid managed to talk to one of the specialists and returned to the airship as it disgorged the remainder of the crew. Approaching the rest of his friends, he huffed and reached for a new cigarette. Grimacing, he started talking:

"She's not looking good, and she's definitely hyped up on Geostigma an' something else. Doc says both infections are fighting and eating her from inside. Dunno what that means, but they're setting in a transfusion to replace all the blood the bastard drunk. 'Round a pint."

"But she'll be okay?"

"Docs ain't sure. She's looking real bad but she's still young and she still has a lot to live for. She'll live. How, don't ask me..."

* * *

"Alright, people, move! We don't have much time! Set the transfusion and get me the Geostigma vaccine, stat!"

"Injecting the blood, closing wound..."

Yuffie was dizzy. She only could see a dazzling array of lights, spinning and burning like flickering candles before the sun. Everybody moved and ran and it was all so strange. Her vision blurred and soon it all merged together in a sea of green. And then the blackness of unconsciousness began tugging at her eyelids, beckoning them to close. She fought it for as long as she could, trying to draw strength from where there was none left, until her efforts exhausted more than helped her. The last thing she saw as the black became absolute and her dreams took over were tiny weird specks of red in the green void.

With an undignified sigh, she lost her battle and went to sleep.

* * *

And somewhere that was like a quiet, suburban district somewhere in England, or possibly Wales, Reno had been gathering stuff for one of the most dangerous stunts he would ever pull. So far he had found a soft pencil and a notepad in the police office, a hanger in the trash outside, a screwdriver and a roll of tape from one of the desks. And then he found a store where he easily shoplifted a lighter while browsing some magazines. Excellent. He was fully set in.

Time to see how fast he could destroy such a wonderful world of make-believe.

So he asked a few quick questions and was suitably sickened when they were answered without as much as the bat of an eye. Even though they included such delicate issues as to where Seras Victoria lived and what she was going to do in twenty minutes. Calmly, he unfolded the hanger as he walked out of the police station and easily repeated the lessons of a long-remembered stint of low-key crime at Midgar. The car opened without as much as a purr. Starting it up with the screwdriver was hardly more difficult and as soon as his target left the police station he was perfectly prepared to follow.

Soon he saw her leave that silly scooter of hers, drag it into a building and enter with a happy smile in her face.

He followed her while concealing the tools he would use in the recesses of his jacket.

He knocked her door and waited until she opened. With exercises repeated for countless hours in Shinra HQ, he only needed half a second. His hand managed to hit the right nerves at the right moment and that instant she fell unconscious into his arms. With a sad smile crossing his features, Reno dragged her inside and bound her with the roll of tape to a chair, carefully repeating the bindings so she had no opportunity of escaping. A quick, illegible note in the notebook was quickly stuck to her door. If anyone bothered to try and read it, it simply read: "Off to the pharmacy". Often, easy notes were the fastest way of ensuring nobody bothered him.

He then selected a knife from the kitchen and set it into the table. Just for precautions.

A trip to the bathroom revealed a small packet of smelling salts.

He held them under her nose and waited until she began coughing.

"Good evening. Sorry to barge in, but I'm afraid it's time to wake up."

The look the woman gave him told him rather easily she didn't understand.

"Please... just take what you must and leave!"

"Tsk. Damn shame. I wanted to avoid the next step. Can't blame a guy for trying to take the easy route, can ya? Oh, well. Let's just get on with it."

He walked around the small apartment, taking care to seal her mouth with another piece of tape. Moments later, after some wandering, he returned with a huge album.

"Mmm. Albums. Lessee what we've got here, shall we?"

Flipping through the pages, he began selecting several photos.

"Daddy and mommy, I take it? All right. I've been informed on good authority... shall we say these photos have been slightly modified for your enjoyment? Okay, let's see. Daddy was a cop, I see. How did he die? Shootout? Killed in the line of duty? A respectable car crash?"

Seras furiously shook her head as tears began streaming down her face. Reno, sincerely sad, responded:

"Hey, I know this is painful, but, as I said to your friend, _happiness is like a drug_. Think of this as a... _detox program_, okay? First step is admitting you have a prob. Second step, is flushing your system clean. Third step... well, it's up to you. Right now, you're a junkie, so let's begin on that part..."

* * *

At that time, the Captain and Yumie were overlooking the small coastal town of Junon, sleeping at the base of the Shinra installation of the same name. Yumie huffed.

After which she leapt into the air and prepared her sword with the adequate momentum. Seconds later, she easily impaled a Creeper. After which the Creeper violently began trying to shake her off. Moments later, the Captain leapt after Yumie and squashed the Creeper's back with a dull crack. With a roar, the behemoth began flailing in agony, incapable of moving much of its own body, forcing its new regenerative capabilities to the maximum.

"What are these things? Don't they have spines or muscles or organs or anything?"

The Captain briefly seized Yumie's katana and sliced off the Creeper's head. Without further prompting, he handed the blade over. The nun kicked the head and observed the wound.

"Only a fucking hard spine. Very few nerves or vessels. Like they were only made to be resistant and strong, nothing soft or that could be used as an easy target. Artificial. Explains why it was so damn hard to kill them inside Master. How many of them dared attack this peaceful village, werewolf?"

The Captain tensed, and inhaled deeply of the Junon air. He raised two fingers.

"Damn. You up to the challenge?"

The former adjutant raised an eyebrow.

"All right. We protect this place until we kill those diseased things. Then we go back to Master."

As she spoke, one of the distorted hunters sauntered across the main street of the tiny village and collapsed in pain. Blood began seeping out of its mouth between convusive throes.

"What the...?"

Then again, she was trained to attack first and leave questions for later. With a dash, she began hacking at the Creeper as the beast cried in pain, incapable of defending itself. The Captain then delivered a brutal punch to its skull, allowing Yumie to stab the interior with ease. As the monster died, she touched the black matter it was dissolving into.

"This is Master's shadow, werewolf. So this is what these fiends are using to make themselves whole. Damn Master and damn these things to Hell."

A shy, tiny voice from one of the nearby buildings asked:

"Hello? Is... is it safe to come out?"

"Uh? Yeah, go home. Fast, before the another one comes by. Didja see what happened to this one?"

An aged woman came out and stuttered:

"Y-yes, I was in... in charge of cleaning and... and... preparing the fishes for tonight..."

"And?"

"This thing came... the fishermen had brought in several sharks... this thing saw me, I ran and hid inside... it smelled the sharks and bit them, but didn't eat them, more like... sucking them. And then it began choking, and dying... it began ramming the door and I was so scared..."

"Okay. Listen to me. So it began... after it had drunk the sharks?"

The woman hysterically nodded.

"All right. Good. Go home _now."_

As the woman ran away, Yumie again sighed.

"And what do we make of this, warwolf?"

The roar of a furious Creeper stopper her thoughts.

_

* * *

_

Inside the Mako reactor, three prolonged screams pierced the calm of the Midgar area.

Jenova merely nodded at the suffering. The potential that pain would bring was enough to justify everything upon her eyes.

To combine that divine strain with her own...

And to finally bring everything that was Gaia under her command...

well, some sacrifices were necessary.


	15. The Big Bang

'Allo there. Once again unto the breach. Really, let's just skip the excuses and let's cut to the chase: no reviews means no updates. Few reviews mean few updates. Do the math.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that you can help me make this the best possible of all fics out there, but c'mon, nobody constructed a castle by himself. Just push the button at the bottom and drop me a line so we can have a word and see what can we do about it all, 'kay?

I do confess I have been delaying this on purpose, but good Lord, honestly, did none of you even read one any other story or anything else in my profile?

* * *

A slight tremor startled Reno. For a second, he quit leafing through the album.

"Hoookay. That was creepy. But let's continue, nacht? Eh, what's this?"

There was something wrong with one of the photos. He took it out of its place and turned on a light. There was another image under the photo, and a thin strip of the film covering it had been scratched away by his fingernail. Curious, Reno reached for the knife in the table, as the flailing girl next to him desperately tried to dissuade him, shaking her head in almost convulsive desperation, trying to get his attention.

"Sorry. D'ya mind? I tink we're getting to the real problem at hand. We just need to dig up a bit in the perfect life and see the truth, don't we?"

Gently, he scraped the knife along the photo, watching the covering peel away like he was scratching a lottery ticket. When he saw the image underneath, he put down the photo, utterly disgusted and more than a tad horrified by what he had seen.

"All right. So mom and dad didn't have a nice death. My... my ma, if it helps, didn't... didn't have such a good one, either. But hey, it... it can't be all bad in here, can it?"

And then the words of Pip began echoing through his head.

_Horrible childhood. Parents dead. Killed in the first day. Everyone dies again. Real madness starts._

And he stared at his prisoner, moved his chair next to her and sat there. In his best comforting voice, he stammered:

"All - all right. Let's do this. We can, can't we? We're good. It's gonna hurt, but we hafta. We hafta. We can't live in a world of illusions forever."

Another tremor caused the walls of the small apartment to begin cracking as he reached for the next photo.

"Oh, Lifestream. This is gonna get interesting."

* * *

In Midgar, the screams began dying down as the process began its final phases. The being called Jenova was extremely pleased with the results.

Mentally, she began checking the final stages of her experiment. Approving of her own work, she began arrangements for her final assault upon Gaia.

* * *

Pip had been sitting calmly in the subterranean reactor chamber, waiting for Reno to finish his work, ruminating all the while with the Turks as his guards. Zorin kept one of her hands upon Reno's forehead and another deeply sunken in the black and red pool on the floor.

"How's it going, witch?"

Zorin hissed with frank hate.

"It's started. He's begun ripping that miserable world to pieces. I can't sense the Madness."

"Good. Whatever happens, keep focused on that connection. It's the only important thing here."

Suddenly, the black mass began jerking and flailing. Pip, as he and the Turks began firing at the writhing being, screamed:

"Don't break the connection until it's all finished!"

A thick, slimy tentacle wrapped itself around Pip's waist, and with a strong jerk dragged him into the blackness.

Zorin, left alone with a single order, released a long string of German expletives.

* * *

Pip landed in the Black Land with an undignified thump. Rising and shaking off a bit of the black sand, he roared and began walking. Soon enough, though, the rage began diminishing as he began noticing the rather odd changes the dimension was undertaking. For starters, the fresh grass reaching out to the sand and the neighborhood appearing out of the depths of the sand were rather odd. The black sun had changed to a simple moon and plants and roads, along with definite signs of sane civilization, were beginning to sprawl across the landscape.

He began wondering exactly what the demented side of Seras Victoria was thinking.

His curiosity redoubled the moment he noted every single signpost pointed in the same direction, all with the same inscription:

_"The Place You Want To Go To"_

Raising an eyebrow, he followed the signs until he began recognizing the area. It was an exact, moonlit duplicate of the mindscape where he had left Reno to destroy the illusion. Oddly enough, the changes on the dead world were not limited to objects: Pip saw several people walking down the street, all smiling pleasantly, and there were cars, there was music, there was life. Life from lifelessness. What the hell had happened?

Further down the road, the signposts (were there so many at the beginning?) began pointing to a definite building_. _Inside, he sighed as he noted the walls and the floors were fully covered with arrows and signs leading him up the stairs to an apartment in the third floor.

Gingerly knocking on the door, a voice inside called:

"One minute, please!"

Moments later, as Pip leaned on the wall, a perfectly groomed Sabbath opened the door.

"Ah, Philippe. Come on, I have a kettle on."

Plopping tiredly on one of the neatly organized apartment, Pip grunted as he accepted the offered cup:

"All right. Say I bite. What did you do?"

"Me? Oh, no, no, no. It was her, you know. She's getting madder and madder as we speak. Madness has to go somewhere, y'know. I know it doesn't work like that, but hey, how can I complain? I had to do something to become sane enough to get a good chat with you so we could talk and get our plan straight."

_"Our _plan?"

"Why, yes. Our plan. Right now, I can think much more clearly. Not that this will be an easy experience for either of us, but oh, well. Mind you, I better tell you: better get ready to help her. Right now, after that jerk finishes giving her the grand tour across her life, she's going to suffer. Old wounds get reopened, y'know. And she's going to get convinced that all she loves or appreciates is destined to die or some other nonsense. Of course, with a rapsheet like hers, who would not reach that conclusion? Mind you, why she hasn't succumbed to utter lunacy after all the times this has happened to her is beyond me!"

"And I have to be the one t' help her, am I not?"

"Gotcha. You, Sir Irons and her sister. Oh, wait. That hasn't happened yet, has it?"

Pip facepalmed.

"Get your priorities straight, you thing!"

Sabbath shrugged.

"I must say, Philippe! If you had an inkling of how damnably complicated my existence is, you would not be ragging on me with such vigor!"

"Yeah. Whatever. What's all of this that hasn't happened yet?"

She drank from her cup and placed it down, staring at him with her blackened eyes.

"When I was insane, I kept having flashes of events I knew nothing about, snippets of conversation and images that were clearly in the future. I thought, lost in the mire of my dementia, good old Seras was a precog and I was exploiting her ability. Now I know better, but I logically cannot tell you the bigger picture lest you tell and ruin all I have seen. Fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, I have made you come to tell you the single piece of information you need to save the world."

"Why would you want to save the world?"

"I like existing. Period. Pay attention now. I mentioned the time Hell was returning to London. This is about that. She will gain and lose so much, she's going to be so angry, so sad and so joyful, so jubilant and alive and dead. But when she loses it and begins her endgame, it will be at her lowest, at the moment she hurts the most and suffers and screams for help, there is a message you have to pass on to everybody in her soul chamber. A message that will lead to her salvation. And _hopefully_ as many people as possible."

"And the message would be?"

"When she's screaming for help, when she begs for aid and advice, when she kneels and I dominate and rule over her, _don't help her."_

_"Abandon her?_ In her darkest hour?"

"You want to save the world?"

"What proof do you have?"

Sabbath sighed.

"All right. I can offer proof and guidance of what to do and when, including how to help her right now, but it's not going to be gentle and you will hate it."

_"Get on with it!"_

She pressed her hand to his. Pip screamed for a good while until she released it.

"Seeing truly is believing, isn't it?"

She rose and reached for the teapot as Pip, trembling in horror, left his seat.

"Left door leads out. Mind your feet."

* * *

Outside, as he briskly paced through the walls overlooking Junon Village, Vincent stared below and saw the lot of piled Creeper corpses. With the tip of his gun, he began poking around, searching for the cause of death. Interested in the deep claw marks and the sword cuts, he jerked back when he noticed two people walking towards him.

"You. The Leech King. The Father of All Vampires. The Master of Bats. The Emperor of the Undead."

Calmly, Vincent raised his gun, leveling it to the Captain's head.

"No. And it's beginning to get irritating when I get mistaken for him."

Yumie huffed and circled him.

"Hmpf. Then perhaps you should make a decent effort of clothing yourself correctly."

Vincent bit his lip, struggling not to make a comeback.

"Where is your master?"

"Regenerating. What is your business with her?"

"I may not be the king she's seeking. But I know of him and I spoke to him. I want to talk to her and ensure she can help us in our fight."

"She tried. Why do you think she's regenerating in the first place?"

Vincent stood silent for a moment.

"All right. I get it. I just want to talk to her for a minute, then I'm done."

The Captain pointed with his thumb back at Junon's military base.

"In there, reactor chamber, I think, whatever you are. You're no vampire, but you still stink. Thank your God you have information for my master, or I'd kill you in a heartbeat."

Walking away, Vincent replied:

"Ditto. Goodnight."

* * *

And in the depths of the mindscape, Reno kept whittling away at the fake happy pictures, liking less and less what he found. There were enough memories in there to scare the hell out of him. He was a true Turk and he'd known the feeling of friends dying pointlessly in six years of devoted service to Shinra. He'd seen violence and depravity at their worst.

He was having a hard time convincing himself the girl was truly sane. At least she had to be on some sort of denial to function. Nobody could resist that amount of punishment and leave.

Could anyone?

He licked his dry lips, tried uselessly to gesture with his hands, and dropped them as he began flipping over the photos so she could see the reality of her life. A hard woman with glasses. A tall, old man in an old-fashioned butler suit. Somebody who looked like Vincent had finally gone nuts.

"I... I don't know what to say. It's hard to live like that, I geddit... I mean, I've suffered, I... I know this guy, Strife, you met him! He also saw his family die, he also saw his life go to hell and had his brain wrung from the inside out... and hell, does he have reason to be angry and mad, but he lashes out and he's moody and furious and he's only truly happy when he's around his family. You, you hurt too, right? It hurts so bad, you want everything to go like it was. Having all you could love and kiss and hug around the corner ready to be loved."

Bloody tears streamed down Seras' cheeks as the roar of the tremors increased in speed and power. Reno's voice trembled a bit as he kept talking.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know how you live. I don't know how you guys handle it. Valentine was shot, turned into a fucking monster and saw his lady love used as a cultivation tank for the thing that almost killed ya. Teef had to resist Cloud losing his shit and almost dying and leaving her to lead a buncha creeps in saving the world. I had a bad day, and I'm already crooked enough as it is. You guys have bad days every damn week and I admire you for not being like Seph, I mean, the big bad around here. He... he was once a good guy, friends, with really, really good friends, and began losing everything... but he couldn't handle it. I'm sorry. I wish I could help. Please let me help so you can help us all. Anything I can give is yours."

The seismic waves increased and cracks began appearing in the walls. Furniture fell and fires were set alight.

"For all it's worth, you're my heroine. You're my goddamn heroine."

And the walls broke and nothing was anymore.

* * *

Vincent walked through the hall leading to the reactor, when a chorus of screams warned him. Sprinting across the hall and dropping down the elevator shaft, he burst into the Reactor chamber, with barely enough time to see the black mass pulling itself together and regaining its shape, consuming Zorin and dropping a shivering Reno.

The blackness congealed. And Seras Victoria's face again saw the light.

She roared, and her fangs glistened in the light of the sanctum.

_"What took you so long?"_


	16. Moving In

I'm not gonna lie. I have to admit sometimes this one grates on my nerves like you would not believe. So I decided to keep it in a short hiatus till I could at least complete the Temperance chapter of _Arcana_, which, I have to say, was still hell of a lot harder than this one.

* * *

Vincent did his best to keep his cool, raising his hand in a gesture that he hoped conveyed some sort of peaceful agreement.

"I-I'm sorry for what's happened... I want to apologize."

That briefly gave her pause. Seras craned her neck, and began sniffing around him, circling in ever-shrinking circles.

"You reek of gunpowder and old, dried blood. You sink of death and of the grave. You have a fucking huge gun, black hair, a red overcoat and very, very red eyes."

Her voice lowered.

"So why aren't you the same as me? I have to say it: because you are _not_ my master... are you?"

She hissed in wrath and disgust, leaning against the wall. She elbowed a nearby pipe, crushing it.

"Damn. He... he _isn't_ here... is he? I came here just to collect him, and look at the _disaster_ I've made!"

Vincent approached her and knelt to speak to her more directly.

"Calm down. I don't honestly believe it is possible to blame all of this on you by any standards; both Sephiroth and Jenova were longstanding threats and I don't believe you had any way of knowing I was not the person you were looking for. And to be honest, he _did _happen to be around here a while ago..."

Seras raised her eyes with a confused grunt.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, he visited this place for only a very brief moment and helped me. After that he left."

Annoyed, Seras made a face at Vincent's words.

"Damn scientists. Told me I was coming about a week after him. How long ago was that?"

Vincent visibly recoiled at the estimated time.

"More than six months."

The following expletive is better left in the mists of oblivion.

"Ummm. At the risk of having a repeat of that word... would you like, y'know, some clothes?"

* * *

Sephiroth achingly managed to wake up. The wing had long since dissolved and he was fairly sure he had at least three broken ribs and his right arm was in no condition to be used. Limping out of the church, he desperately began searching for any kind of living animal he could use as nourishment. A few minutes later, a small trail of slain Bandits blanketed the area. And still, the former General's thirst was not abated in the slightest. If anything, he felt like it was growing. Like the meager amount of blood he had been drinking was doing nothing save for teasing the hole in his stomach.

Ultimately, he kept on walking until he found a coyote somewhere in the outskirts of Midgar.

The spectacle of what he had become was a humiliating realization of how low he had sunk.

Reduced to eating a bloody carcass in the middle of nowhere. Abandoned by his Mother. Forsaken by the Planet.

He was going to find a way to kill as many of his enemies as he could, including the Jenova _aberration_. Implement it. And then blow his brains out.

* * *

Yuffie was lying on a gurney as it was rolled out of Junon's medical facility into the helipad. While the local doctors had indeed managed to stabilize her and give her some extra blood to compensate for the amount Sephiroth had drained her out of, she still was in a dangerous state and the trip to the main Shinra hospital in Edge was deemed worth the potential risk, given how there they had better supplies and were better trained to combat Geostigma.

Granted, at the moment the disease itself was being ravaged by yet another virus struggling for control of Yuffie's brain, but both strains were resilient.

She only recovered consciousness for seconds at a time, and awoke to see the helicopter and some people she could not muster enough focus to name.

On the other hand, she was improving slowly but surely, as the red virus fought to recreate the areas damaged by its green counterpart. This, of course, came at the expense of much of the blood she was receiving, but as she kept being injected with more and more blood, it became ultimately meaningless in the end. Yuffie Kisaragi was well on the way to recovery.

From a certain point of view, of course.

From others, she was well on the way to join the ranks of the undead.

In either case, she could not bring herself to care. The darkness enveloping her was simply too alluring to leave. So she closed her eyes again and returned to the blissful emptiness of the void.

* * *

In Mako Reactor Number Eight, things were hardly more quiet. Several black cocoons had been woven in the walls. Periodically, the chitinous masses would sip a bit more of the Lifestream pool below and grow a bit more. Aside from them, the reactor was oddly quiet. Within, two warring lifeforms slowly were forced together to work in harmony by a life without sentience, a Will that should have never awakened in the first place. The beings inside whimpered in pain at their Mother's harsh treatment, but endured as they could, in the hopes of earning her gratitude and love.

Jenova knew neither emotion. It knew of eating, infecting, absorbing, breeding, and growing. Neither of which involved any real emotion. As far as life went, Jenova was at its very fringes, clawing her way in, unsure of what she was, only sure of what she wanted to do: consume everything and dissolve molecule of any will external to her own into the sea of her vastness. And this new blood-red enemy was so interesting, with so much in common! What great feats they would do together as one! They would sup upon the Lifestream at a drip, and the whole of the cosmos would be their banquet. All that was needed was but a mere formality, adding her new friend's strength to her own and to that of her children.

The Remnants screeched in pain from within the armored cocoons. Jenova felt satisfied, in the same manner a different entity could feel joy or elation at the thought. The process was working faster than she expected. If everything went perfectly, the miserable world she had been forced to live in by so many years would be nothing but a dry bone within weeks. All life besides her own would be cast away and conveniently forgotten.

So she merely ignored the screams of pain and pleasure and began weaving her own coccoon.

* * *

In a different helicopter, several people conversed.

"Please tell me you have at least some idea of what the hell happened to all that stuff that thing stole from me."

"We do. They marched all night to Mako Reactor Number Eight; the WRO battalions up on Edge are gathering supplies and rounding up soldiers for a preemptive strike before they can mpve to Edge. The entire operation, plus any Shinra additional forces, should be ready in less than two hours. Hopefully we will manage to get the drop on them and force an easier confrontation if we can deploy our forces in bright daylight to weaken them and end them before they are ready."

"Good. What weapons are they using?"

"Mostly carbines and standard assault rifles. Anti-Jenova chemical grenades and sprays are also available to officials, and we're checking out the possibility of handing out some silver-coated bullets, but we are very pessimistic on those given the time constraints."

"... given the circumstances, I do suppose it would be too much to ask for anything more."

"Well. Mind you, Shinra _did_ dig out something that might come in handy. If those damn scientists can get the energy cannons online in time."

"..._energy cannons?"_

"Why, yes. Thought you'd seen it the other day, when we got you out of the Shinra Edge Base."

"I was fully covered and desperately trying to hold that jacket and tarp over me so I wouldn't end up flashing myself up on the crowd to note anything."

"Oh. Hey, there it is! Reno has the time of his life driving that damn thing."

Seras had already seen a lot of things mad and sane in technology and magic in both worlds in a very, very short life. The sight of the huge four-armed warmech with its own missile-launching platform, flamethrowers and masses of energy cannons was still a very, very impressive one. Especially given said warmech was actually flying at an insane speed with a truly ludicrous amount of jets providing it with the necessary power to stay aloft.

"So? You like the Proud Clod?"

* * *

"So? How did everything go, Vince?"

"She's scared. She's still is rather raw about this whole mess, and I suppose she will want to join the second or third attack waves as the sun goes down. I suppose this whole mess _could_ have somehow been avoided, but for the moment I think it's better not to dwell on it for too long. I'll have to go back and talk to her when we arrive at Edge."

" 'bout what?"

"Her old man."

Vincent sighed.

"In the end, he _was_ right-about what he said about me and what he said about her."

"An' what was that?"

"About me? I needed to get out and take control of my life for real instead of staying locked up in that moldy basement. About her? She's getting broken and learning the ways of their kind. Wonder what tells about her and the life she's led so far. Wonder what that says about me and how badly I screwed up when I refused to see the problem."

"I suppose you would not be interested in an external opinion, will ya?"

"I've been insulted far too many times today, Cid. Perhaps tomorrow. Or, on the other hand, if you want it to be actually funny, perhaps we can wait till Yuffie is walking on her own feet again and have her tell me all about what was crossing her head from the moment we met. Including, dear lord, what she thought when she saw me in the getup I had on before."

"Ya really care about the brat, doncha?"

"We all care. In different ways."

* * *

On another hold, Cloud and Reeve sat down before a large map, Reeve continually marking acetate sheets with a marker and Cloud occasionally offering corrections. Finally, both men settled down and remained quiet as Reeve uploaded the adjusted battle plan to the WRO computers in Edge.

"So? Does it seem like we can hope for a miracle?"

"If by miracle you mean lessened deaths, thank the Lifestream, yes, so it seems. With the added information we were supplied with, I think perhaps this can be quelled with minor casualties. If everybody works together and hope for the best."

"What about Sephiroth?"

"That's one of the main issues there. He has to be somewhere in Midgar, hiding."

Cloud sighed.

"And so it begins again..."


	17. Opening Hostilities

As the helicopter began approaching Edge, the pilot asked:

"Hey, what's with the Wutai girl?"

"Geostigma and something else. Her hearbeat's weakening and blood pressure is dropping fast. Meds work only for a while. How's weather doing?"

"Looks good. Nice sun, lemme check on Kalm's reports."

"Good. We might actually make it to Edge 'fore she gets in worse shape."

Yuffie didn't hear any of this. Lost in the haze between consciousness and unconsciousness, she was blissfully unaware of the fierce battle raging in her blood. And how badly she was doing. The leather straps holding her to the gurney suddenly tightened, and her eyes shot open. The paramedic, surprised for a moment, managed to recover fairly quickly.

"Miss Kisaragi. Can you hear me?"

Yuffie remained stubbornly motionless, but her eyes began wandering across the chopper.

"Shit. C'mon, girl, work with me. Breathe. Calm down, everything's gonna be okay. Just you wait. Calm down."

The medic passed a hand through her hair and tried to wave a penlight before her face. Her pupils were distended and she did not respond to the light. Her pressure, while stable, was very, very low for someone of her body type. The man thought it odd, how the heart of a strong, healthy young woman was failing at such a rate. Nothing did that. Geostigma damaged the body across months, but she was being eaten by the infection from the inside out with no outside visible reason. She clearly didn't do drugs, she was in shape-what the hell was causing all of her organs to fail in a chain reaction?

The straps tightened again as her arms feebly tried to escape their current bindings.

* * *

Rufus Shinra always had thought his father was an imbecile to say the least. A compulsive spender and a builder of tasteless style. Useless and space-consuming collections were also very high on his priority list. The man loved nothing more than seeing the objects of his affections carefully resting on a pedestal or tacked to the wall like a butterfly with a small tag reducing their entire existence to three sentences. Rufus never liked any of those collections. In time, most had been disassembled and sold to help soften the catastrophic economic blow Shinra had inflicted upon the world with its fall.

But one collection Rufus had kept, the armory, and had it sent to his experts. All agreed that though most of the collection was garbage, some pieces were very valuable and felt they could be actually used in open combat or in special ops. Occasionally one weapon was removed from the vault, tested, discarded or returned. Today, though, the crate of silver weapons was being sent in almost its entirety to the WRO. Rufus, on the other hand, was smart enough to realize the Turks would not appreciate being taken out of the action, and some things like an assortment of Wutai katanas or self-defense knives were set apart for their personal use.

And somehow, somehow, even after driving the Proud Clod to Junon and being handed each a pack of silver ammo and a bladed weapon, the Turks were rattled. Reno moreso.

Of course, to be fairly honest, so was Rufus. Being awakened to the fact that there was a whole new realm of eldritch power beyond the understanding of human minds and the absolute knowledge Jenova was now in a position of both ability and willingness to abuse it for a new attempt at absorbing all life unto itself was not a pleasant prospect at all.

"And may I ask how the preparations go?"

Reno raised his head from the bundle he'd kept it in.

"Fine. Crate got sent and received with no prob."

Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"I thought _you_, of all people would understand people never have perfect lives?"

Reno scoffed.

"There's a diff between "imperfect lives" and "absolutely disgusting lives", sir."

"Unfortunately, I'll have to pinch this bubble of whatever feeling you're experiencing, Reno. Let me begin by saying this - the madness of the world shapes us. Horror shapes us. Evil shapes us. Mind you, I hated my father enough to try and wrestle his megacorp from him at twenty-two; what does that say about me? What truly surprises me is that it was you of all the Turks who first felt what you're feeling now. On the other hand, I've heard the later it comes in life, the worse it is."

Rufus Shinra smiled and sat down next to him.

"You have been a Turk for what now, six years? And until now, every one of your teammates pegs you as a sexist, chauvinist pig with zero empathy. Suffering, for you, is something that _has_ to exist in the world for it to work. Then things like her come along, with the horrors of familicide, insanity and rape. And _then_ come the corollaries."

Reno raised an eyebrow as his employer smiled and clarified:

"There _have _to be limits. Old ladies can and _will_ be mugged, soldiers can and _will _get killed, girls can and _will _be raped. But things like killing a child's parents in his plain view, reveling unnecessarily in pain and horror, defilement of all kinds, it all kind of exceeds the _limits_ of what is to be tolerated, doesn't it? While horrors are to be expected in a compete world… stuff like that is just plain sick and _wrong_, isn't it?"

Rufus leaned over him as he rose.

"Reno. One drop of madness is all that it takes. _Deal with it._"

Reno sighed. Rufus glanced at him as he walked away. He sighed and continued:

"On the other hand, she could use someone to talk to. Someone who knows what it means to be shunned from the _normals_, to kill monsters and die like one, a kindred soul, if I can say so."

Halfway through the hall, Rufus heard something. He turned back and realized Reno had mumbled something.

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

"Why isn't she insane?"

Rufus laughed.

"Why, I daresay she's been mad for quite a long while now. Otherwise she wouldn't be here, with us. Among the madmen."

* * *

The all-terrain vehicles were being loaded with equipment and personnel.

* * *

Umm?

What had that been?

Jenova concentrated for a second in the tips of her feelers, the very edge of her being, from which she could monitor the progress of everything in the reactor. And she sighed when she realized what was happening. How irksome it was, that the diminutive beings of the Planet clung so tightly to their individuality instead of subsuming their selves into Jenova's being. More irritating was the fact they were directing their attack several hours before her full ascension.

Well, that just wouldn't do, would it…

* * *

"Sir? There's something odd I think you should see here on the weather scans."

Reeve groaned, but immediately patched his command screen into the weather grid above the Midgar ruins.

Moments later, he reached for his cell and dialed one of his quick-call numbers.

"Yah? Whaddya need, Reeve?"

"We've got an issue. Jenova's creating a massive storm system above Midgar. Bets are, she felt our approach and wants to give herself whatever edge she can get. We're switching tactics; instead of a full ground invasion supported by air, we're initiating a bombing run on Mako Reactor Eight, followed by the original invasion. How long would it take to adjust the plans for it all?"

"If you wanna disregard the bomb that is the Mako reactor, we can get started in half an hour just as soon as the _Shera_'s tanks are full and the bombs are wheeled in."

"How does the storm factor in?"

"Lemme check the weather grids. Uh-huh. Dunno how big the storm's gonna get, but it won't get bad enough for everyone not to drop a nice missile salvo across the Reactor. Of course, I really have no idea of it's gonna positively kill everything in there, so the ground forces would hafta keep on their toes and move in just as soon as the last bombs have connected with the reactor and hope the blast has done enough structural damage to cripple Jenova's system. Bear in mind the damn thing might have made itself a nice home in there and I can't guarantee any absolute victory with Jenova in mind."

"Nobody can, Cid. I'll alert the ground troops and clear the way for the artillery and energy weapons for an extra salvo before the main strike force goes into Midgar.

* * *

On the deserted streets of Midgar, a lonely figure in a black coat limped across the derelict paths, struggling to find the best way to reach Mako Reactor Eight. Using the wing was out of the question with the terrible strain his organism had underwent, so he instead opted to walk and devour as many living beings as he could in the meanwhile so as to arrive at the reactor at the highest energy levels possible.

The process, though, was incredibly unpleasant. Not only had he to traverse a considerably long way with little or no supplies, he had to do so mostly unarmed. The fangs and the diminutive bone claws springing from his fingers were useful, but they did little to assuage the impression he was becoming more feral as time passed. If anything, he was getting more confirmations by the second. The trembling muscles and the delirium tremens were worsening, and he was struggling to retain full capabilities, at least until his vengeance had been wrought.

He paused to cough again, and disdainfully swat away his hand, and with it, the speckles of blood.

Shivering, he thanked whatever deity had at least had the decency to call some clouds and shield him from the rising sun. Grudgingly, he acknowledged that for a man hellbent on his own destruction, he was having remarkably good luck. He had easily found food and shelter, and had managed to stay undercover for as long as he had needed to. On the other hand, the pain had increased very notably and it wouldn't be long before he was rendered out of combat by the sheer amount of it.

Then, in the middle of the street, he saw it.

Oh, yes… he was a _very_ lucky man.

Masamune quietly waited, stuck as it was on an abandoned garbage heap.

Pulling it out with as much grace and dignity as he could muster, Sephiroth raised his blade. The blade was stained and damaged, and in other circumstances the former General would have devoted days to its repair and care. But for the moment, there were other priorities. Masamune would have to suffer.

It would be its last mission, after all.

* * *

Seras was sitting very calmly and very silently in the otherwise empty assault vehicle. She mentally rehashed the speech she was going to present Sir Integra with and how she was going to explain that the mission that had been prepared with such finesse and care had so quickly turned into an entire fiasco forcing her to team up with the world's defenders to destroy an alien menace.

_"Bugger. Okay, girl, now let's see you practice and actually manage to tell that to yourself with a straight face. 'Cause, let's be honest, not even you can quite follow everything's that going on; how on earth do you think Sir Integra will take all of this? Energy cannons? Super war suits? Alien invasions?"_

"Hello there. Mind if I sit down here?"

"It's a free world. Or so I understand."

Vincent Valentine, for anybody who knew him, was currently a sight for sore eyes, with a crumpled suit, not currently fitted to hold the hand cannon currently resting on his holster, immense bags under his eyes and reeking of a rather strenuous journey, from Costa del Sol to Junon to Edge and two return trips.

"Your father spoke of you when we talked."

"Dare I ask what he said?"

"He… was proud of you. Proud of how you'd grown. How you'd changed under his care."

Seras remained silent for a minute.

"Quote him exactly. What did he say he was proud of?"

Vincent tortured his memory for clarification.

"That you had learned what your condition entailed. That you had proved yourself worthy of the state you had achieved. That you had learnt that some lives are better left killed off before they come into being."

She hid her face.

"Figures. Um, excuse me, I really don't want to be impolite, but…"

"You really could use some time alone. Mostly, because you're afraid that, in time, you will become slowly more and more like him. That every change you undergo will be for worse and that you will only end up hurting somebody. That in the end, whatever path you choose, you will die alone."

Seras snickered between the growing sobs.

"You _do _have experience in this."

"I'm going to indulge you for a while. Reno might not be so accommodating, though. And I have to warn you… the questions you're asking yourself right now – how human am I? Does this mean I'm now going to start enjoying killing, releasing the beast I have now within me? Am I beyond salvation? They're just starting. And unless I'm very much mistaken, you will have those questions dancing on your mind for decades if not centuries to come. So get you answers right from the very start, or you will end up like me. Regretting half my life because I made a wrong choice once. Just a warning."

Seras remained silent as Vincent left the vehicle.

She stayed for five minutes there before the last of the packages had been loaded, and the final preparations for the ground assault were lain.

* * *

The _Shera_ crew was prepared. They had been trained for the worst emergencies and they knew when to fear and when to shoot. And right now, the hold of their ship was filled with high-power demolition bombs, its tanks were full, and every system was online.

Cid Highwind sat in the main control deck and activated the intercom.

"Evenin', gentlemen. We all are here 'cause of that giant meteor freak that simply won't die. They say it has come worse back this time, that it's angrier and more evil than ever. Y'know what I say. Hell. Let her. What the hell is she gonna do, that we can't stop? What can she do to us, that we can't do to her worse? The only answer every man, woman or child in this planet can say is simple: nothing. Right now, that damn bitch is holed up in the ruins of Midgar's Reactor Eight. We are going on a simple bombing run, and we're gonna get her. 'Cause she hopes we will break. That this time, everything will be different. That this time, she's gonna win."

"Gentlemen, I propose we go and show her why that's not happening. Ever.


End file.
